By Some Cruel Twist of Fate
by punknpotter
Summary: Someone is reading Hermione’s diary, and through that information, a series of practical jokes befall her…all from Draco Malfoy. However, something happens that Draco isn’t counting on: LOVE. R&R! DMHG! CHAPTER 6 FINALLY UP.
1. First

**By Some Cruel Twist of Fate**

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**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter. I wish I did, though.

**Summary: **Someone is reading Hermione's diary, and through that information, a series of practical jokes befall her…all from Draco Malfoy. However, something happens that Draco isn't counting on: LOVE.

**Pairing: **DMHG

**Setting: **Seventh Year

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_Chapter 1_

_Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring Ri—_

"Some wonderful, beautiful way of waking up…" Hermione Granger muttered to herself that morning.

She was in her room, the smallest room in that big house, which actually wasn't that small. She complained about it sometimes, but not because of the size, but because of the noise that the outside made, particularly the outside closest to her room. A group of rowdy boys owned the room across hers, and they had a habit of being awake until dawn. They were noisiest when Hermione was trying to sleep, something that Hermione had thought to be a complete coincidence until it happened eleven times in a row. She discovered that one of the boys, Rupert, watched for the closing of her light and then signaled for loud music to be turned on. She told her parents, and her parents told the boys' parents, but nothing much happened. Hermione experienced a quiet week then it happened all over again. She couldn't wait till she could do magic; then she could soundproof her room.

Hermione went to the bathroom and washed her face. She had this habit of washing it with cleanser, rinsing it, wiping her face dry and repeating the process. Today, she was in quite a hurry, but she still did it. It was healthy anyway; to be aware of being healthy, if that made any sense at all.

She took a shower, the three-minute kind she took at Hogwarts and she changed in the bathroom: another one of her habits. She never changed in her bedroom, except if she really had to.

When she reentered her bedroom, she took her comb and walked around her room while combing her still-damp hair. She was near her window when she saw the boys looking at her. She walked away from the window, like nothing happened, but she could've sworn that one of them winked at her.

Hermione tied her hair up in a neat bun, like she did when she was around the house, or reading. Then, she grabbed the letter that Hogwarts had sent her a few days ago. They needed more books now, especially Hermione, who took more classes than anyone else in their year. She didn't regret it; after all, it was better to be a well-rounded student than to be a slacker. Besides, she enjoyed the attention and being able to be irritable with the excuse of too much homework. She glanced over at Crookshanks, who was still sleeping at his usual spot under her desk. That cat had been her only company that summer, and he was quite good at keeping her amused.

She trudged downstairs with her new maroon body bag. Her older brother bought it for her in France, the older brother that she missed terribly but never mentioned. Even Harry and Ron didn't know about Jake Granger, but they never asked, so she figured it technically wasn't a lie.

Jake Granger was a dark haired boy with dark eyes. They weren't cold like a death eater's, but rather, they were warm and welcoming. Hermione and Jake got along quite well, as they were both intelligent people who didn't think that fighting did anything good. Jake, however, got into an accident that got him paralyzed and laying in a hospital bed in France, where he was being studied and given therapy. What made it worse was that 4 years ago, he was diagnosed with Leukemia. Jake ordered the bag off a catalog that he had gotten from a nurse, and the nurse was more than happy to get Jake more catalogs. He sent gifts to Hermione all the time, but never during the school year, as he was told not to; Hermione didn't want anyone sympathizing with her, and Jake had understood. This had made Hermione love him even more.

Just thinking about Jake made Hermione bite her lip, and she walked to the breakfast table thinking about how Jake was doing. She had resolved to cure him herself with magic, but she really didn't think that time would come anytime soon.

"Good morning, honey", Mrs. Granger said, still quite sleepy.

"Good morning mum," Hermione said, "Mum, you aren't even dressed yet…you haven't forgotten about Diagon Alley, have you?"

"I have to be at work, Hermione, so your father will take you", her mother said, glancing at the newspaper, held by Hermione's father.

"Dad, don't you have work as well?"

"No dear, your mum just needs to be there this morning for an emergency appointment by Carrie Douglas"

Hermione grinned. Carrie Douglas was an eight-year old kid who had huge cavities all the time and went to the dentist at least three times a month. Sometimes, she even got into fights, as she was a very disagreeable child. She got her teeth knocked out twice and bent at least thrice.

Hermione's mum handed her a plate of her favorite omelet and she ate it quickly and sipped her juice.

"No hurry, dear..." her mother reminded her. Hermione glanced at the clock: 8:30, exactly 15 minutes before she had hit the alarm clock. She had woken up earlier than she had planned, and she had no idea who had done this to her.

"Mum, did you change the time on my alarm clock?"

"No, honey, why would I do such a thing?"

"I don't know. I set my alarm at 8:45, and when it rang, my clock said 8:45, so I thought I was running a bit late...Dad, did you do it?"

"Hermione, I woke up just 15 minutes ago"

"Oh"

Someone must have done that, maybe one of the boys across the street…but Hermione was a very light sleeper, and her clock made a beeping noise every time the time is changed, so she would've woken up.

Maybe someone had taken the clock out of her room before setting the time so that she would hear nothing but silence. _Silence._ Maybe someone had silence the clock with magic…

_But who was willing to go all the way to her Muggle community just to play a practical joke?_

Maybe Harry or Ron did it. Maybe they were so sick of having her on time all the time that they had decided to give her a little scare before they met up at Diagon Alley…but Harry couldn't have done it because he wasn't allowed out of the house at all. Ron could have done it, or at least one of the Weasleys, as all of them, except Ginny, had taken their apparition tests. From Ron's letters, he had not only passed the apparition test, but he had passed it with flying colors.

_Hah! I passed my apparition test. When are you having yours?_

_-Ron_

Because of Ron's letters, she had written to the ministry and asked to have her apparition test sometime during the school year, most preferably a weekend. She couldn't wait.

* * *

Five minutes later, after brushing her teeth and checking her things, she and her father got into their car and drove off to the Leaky Cauldron. Then, they went to Gringotts and had some money changed. Her father always gave her more than enough, as a treat for her being such a good and intelligent daughter who never asked for anything else but love, besides the occasional new t-shirts and faded jeans, but that was another story. 

When they exited Gringotts, she spotted Harry and Ron immediately, because of the Weasleys' flaming hair.

"Hello, Mr. Granger," Harry said cheerily and Ron waved his hand and smiled.

"Dad, you remember Harry and Ron, right?"

Her father reached out his hand for the two to shake it.

"I'll be going on my way now, I'll pick you up in a few hours, Hermione", her father said with a smile, "Have fun"

"Thanks dad," Hermione said, and she kissed his cheek, giving Harry a sting of jealousy at the word 'dad'.

Harry Potter had gotten over his parents' death, yes, but he missed them terribly, especially at times like this. Another thing was Sirius. Sirius' death was something Harry found himself playing over and over in his mind. He dreamt about it and wrote long letters to Sirius but never sent them. He found himself guilty, because technically, Sirius' death was nobody's fault but his. His friends had definitely helped him cope in their sixth year, but still, he wondered…_what if things happened differently?_

Hermione and Ron sent him letters, telling him not to worry, but he still did. He had pain that nobody suffered. Sirius was his only true family, but he had died, just like the rest of his loved ones. He wanted to lock himself away, in fear that Hermione and Ron might be next. They had no idea what he was going through, losing parents and someone who promised him a real home, someone to love him in place of his parents.

Then Molly Weasley caught sight of Hermione's father. Before he entered the Leaky Cauldron, she ran up to him.

"Mr. Granger—"

"Please, call me Scott—you're Ron's mother, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. Actually, my husband and I were wondering if Hermione could stay with us for the rest of the summer, if you have nothing planned."

"Of course she could, but she's going to have to collect her luggage…"

"Oh yes, I hadn't thought about that…"

"She has her things packed and ready to go anyway, so maybe I could pick it up now and bring it back here?"

"Oh no, if she has her things all packed, then my husband and I could pick it up at your house later"

"But that would take a lot of your time; we live in the suburbs west of here"

"We could apparate there—appear just by magic?"

"Yes of course…"

Hermione had come over to see what they were talking about. When her father told her that she would be staying at the Weasleys for the rest of the summer, she was completely overjoyed.

"Thank you, daddy!" she said, and she went over to Ron and Harry to tell them about it.

"Maybe we could take our apparition tests together, Hermione", Harry said, "Mine is this weekend"

"Yes, maybe I could, but don't you need to make an appointment at least two weeks before?"

"They could probably make an exception. I mean, everybody else I know in our year has had their test already so, the Ministry could probably fit you in…" Ron said, "but I want to go visit Fred and George now…"

Hermione had forgotten all about Fred and George, but they sent her a catalog a few weeks ago, along with a box of toffees.

_Not bewitched, we promise. They're just really good. We bought tons of boxes on or trip to Ireland. They're distributing our fake wands over there, you know. Business has never been better._

_-Fred and George_

Hermione had hesitated before trying one of the toffees but she had found them to be right. Within days, the box was empty.

* * *

"_Harry_, Ron…_Hermione_", Fred said from behind the purple counter, "_Good_ morning!" 

"Hello Fred," she and Harry said.

"Fred, what's wrong with your voice?" Ron said, taking a free piece of candy from a bowl at the counter.

"I'm practicing intonation for talking to customers…a load of crap actually…the Daily Prophet sent it to me…"

"Oh", Hermione said, looking around.

The joke shop was extremely colorful, although none of these colors clashed, so they were very pleasing to the eye.

The counter was purple, each wall was a different color, and tricks and jokes lined the walls, on colorful, shiny shelves.

"Good _morning_,"

Hermione whirled around and saw George, dressed like an orange Willy Wonka. She looked over at Fred and saw that he had changed into a green version of George's suit. They had top hats, long coats and shiny, shiny shoes.

Hermione tried not to giggle, but Ron pointed and laughed, making Hermione burst out laughing as well. Harry, who had been examining the different varieties of fake wands, looked up and joined in the laughter.

"What is _that_?" Harry asked.

"Employees' suits. It _actually_ works…we got them _yesterday_, and we've been having the _highest_ sales ever…"

* * *

They left Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes a few minutes later. Ron and Harry stocked up on discounted practical jokes and Hermione merely rolled her eyes, holding the fake wand George had handed her for free, and was a little startled when it changed into an old boot. 

They met up with Mrs. Weasley in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. She was carrying their books.

"I only got the basics…Hermione, I understand you have some extra classes…"

"Oh yes, I'll get them myself…", she answered and she stood up to go to Flourish and Blott's.

"I'll go with you, Hermione, I've been wanting to buy a book on Quidditch…" Harry said

"Okay dears, we'll meet you at Slug & Jiggers Apothecary…" Mrs. Weasley called out.

Hermione nodded and she and Harry went on to Flourish and Blott's.

At Flourish and Blott's, Hermione clutched the list of books while going through the titles. She still had one more book to look for when she bumped into a boy with platinum blonde hair.

"Watch where you're going, Granger", he said, his pale eyes piercing into her own honey colored ones.

"Me? You're the one walking with your nose stuck in a book", she said with all confidence.

"I'm sorry", he sneered, and said, "I don't talk to Mudbloods"

"Go eat filth, ferret", she said. She grabbed the book she needed off the shelf and stormed off.

Draco Malfoy smiled that cold smile that was all too famous among the Gryffindors. He handled that situation quite well, if he did say so himself.

* * *

"Guess who I bumped into?" Hermione said over lunch at The Leaky Cauldron. 

"One of the teachers?" Ginny guessed. Ginny herself had bumped into Professor Sinistra.

"Nope. Draco Malfoy", she said, quite plainly, and Ron shook his head and patted Hermione's back.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that…", he said apologetically, obviously faking it.

They ate the rest of their food chattering about everything they could think of. Fred and George also joined them later, and they shared stories about the customers they encountered at their joke shop.

Mrs. Weasley smiled. She had started to accept that being practical jokers were what her sons wanted to be. She was disappointed at first, but she had seen how successful they were becoming, and how happy they were, that she had begun to see that they were very, very much the people she had wanted them to grow up as: successful and happy.

* * *

All in all, they were a very happy bunch when they left by floo powder to the burrow. Hermione was brushing some ash from her t-shirt when Mrs. Weasley announced that she was going to Hermione's house to collect her things. Arthur was at the ministry so Ron volunteered to come along, as he was the only one, in the house able to apparate. 

About fifteen minutes later, they appeared again, Ron grinning from ear to ear, "Congratulations, Hermione"

"What is it?" Hermione asked. She had been reading one of the books she picked up at Diagon Alley.

"You made head girl", he said, holding up a letter.

Hermione's eyes widened, "You're kidding!" she said and rushed over to read the letter.

_Miss Granger,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been made Head Girl for this school year. Enclosed is your badge. Please be at the Prefects Compartment on the 1st of September. We trust that you will help make this school year a pleasant and memorable experience._

_Professor Minerva McGonagall _

_P.S. I am aware that this letter came quite late. To be honest, it completely slipped my mind. My apologies._

"Congratulations dear, from your parents as well"

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley"

Harry walked into the room and Hermione beamed at him, "I made Head Girl!"

"Congratulations, Hermione", he said, smiling as well, but then his smile faded, "Who's head boy?"

"I have no idea. It obviously isn't Ron, as he doesn't have a letter. Oh well, maybe it's Ernie Macmillan…"

* * *

"Hermione, is this yours?" Ginny Weasley said while separating all the books that had been thrown into one pile. 

Hermione looked over from the letter she was writing to her parents. Ginny was holding up a leather-bound notebook that Hermione had bought in the stationery shop.

"Yes", she replied, "could you put it in my pile, please? Thanks"

A few minutes later, Hermione had finished writing the letter. She tied it to Pig's leg and sent him off. She bent over to pick up the leather-bound notebook and took a pen. On the first page, she wrote _Hermione Granger's Diary_.

She had bought it because it was their final year at Hogwarts. She usually bought notebooks when she went to foreign countries. She had avoided buying notebooks for Hogwarts because she feared that non-wizards would find it, but this year she was quite sure that she could keep it away from the non-Wizarding community. Besides, she reasoned, how often do you get a chance to document your final year at school?

* * *

Hermione was very sleepy that night, but that morning's incident popped inside her head. She hadn't asked Harry or Ron if they had set her alarm as a joke. 

She couldn't get it out of her head, so she slipped out of Ginny's room and opened the door to Ron's room.

"Harry…", she whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you have anything to do with my alarm clock this morning?"

"What?"

By this time, Harry was awake, from what had been the start of another Sirius-related dream.

"Did you set my alarm early as a joke?"

"No, I didn't. I was at the Dursleys' the whole summer 'til today…"

"Well someone did…" Hermione said, and she moved over to Ron.

"Ron…"

"Wha—"

"Ron!" Hermione was getting so impatient that her voice had turned a little louder, making Ron sit up suddenly.

"Hermione, why are you here?" Ron asked, obviously a little annoyed.

"Did you set my alarm an hour early this morning?" she asked.

"What?—no I didn't"

"Someone did…and it couldn't have been a Muggle"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow, Hermione…please?"

Hermione sighed and left the room. Despite the fact that she still didn't know who played that trick on her, she slept peacefully that night partly because she was so sleepy. Partly, also, because she had no idea that someone was watching her from the window.

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**_A/N: Thanks for reading the first chapter of By Some Cruel Twist of Fate_**

_**If you liked this chapter, be sure to review. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. Because this is actually just an experimental fic, to see if people like the idea. So tell me what you think!**_

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	2. Second

**By Some Cruel Twist of Fate**

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**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter. :sniff:

**Summary**: Someone is reading Hermione's diary, and through that information, a series of practical jokes befall her…all from Draco Malfoy. However, something happens that Draco isn't counting on: LOVE.

**Pairing**: DMHG

**Setting**: Seventh Year

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_Chapter 2_

Draco Malfoy waited about 10 more minutes. He watched Hermione roll over in her bed and fluff her pillow so many times that he began to think that it might not be worth it to play all these tricks on her. But he remembered what had happened a few nights ago:

"_Your turn Draco", Blaise Zabini said, holding out the hat to him. The hat contained dares of every sort; most of them were Muggle dares, just for fun. They had never thought much of Muggles, but Blaise had been vacationing in a Muggle Community in the Netherlands and had picked up the book, "100 things to do when you get bored". Number 42 was to play Dares Out of the Hat, and right beside it, number 43, was to play a practical joke on someone, including several Muggle practical jokes that were old but still effective._

_Draco smirked and took the piece of paper from the hat._

_Play a series of practical jokes on someone for an entire year,_

"_An entire year?"_

"_Of course, it'll be fun. Well, not everyday…but often in the year"_

"_Not for me, it won't. I don't want to waste time on these Muggle tricks…"_

"_Well, you agreed to play 'Dares Out of the Hat'. Don't tell me the great Draco Malfoy is afraid to play a joke on some innocent student"_

"_Of course I'm not"_

"_Good, here's the list", Blaise said, a smile creeping across his face. They had obtained a copy of all the students in their year. Draco set it in front of him and closed his eyes. He ran his hand up and down the list and stopped right there and then._

_Blaise looked at the name. "This is going to be good", he muttered, smirking._

_Draco slowly opened his eyes to see where his index finger had landed on the smooth piece of parchment._

_Granger, Hermione Jane_

"_Oh yes, this is going to be quite interesting", Draco thought and he stood up to take another piece of parchment and write down his plans, "This may prove profitable…"_

So here was Draco Malfoy now, on his broomstick, waiting for Hermione Granger to fall fully asleep. At least Hermione was staying here, where Draco had less risk of being seen by a Muggle. It was quite difficult for him to steal her alarm clock and change the time. He had apparated into her bedroom, took it, apparated 2 blocks away and changed the time, the beeping noise annoying the hell out of him.

Once he had changed the time, he apparated back into his bedroom and felt a sense of accomplishment. Sure, changing the time on someone's alarm clock could hardly call itself worthy of Draco Malfoy, but he felt that toying around with little miss perfect's daily routine was very much worthy of him, if not the best thing that happened during his summer.

His summer was very uneventful. He was required to visit dinner parties, and listen to old wizards talk about their experiences spying for the Death Eaters. Then, he did his homework, reminding himself that he needed to out study Hermione Granger this year, or else his father would be very disappointed.

His father had never approved Muggle things, but as long as his marks were above average, he had been allowed to indulge in Muggle music, particularly the Rock genre. At the end of last school year, he had been awarded a Creative Zen, a small Muggle gadget smaller than his hand that let him play music with the press of a button. Too bad it wouldn't work at Hogwarts, because Seventh year would have been the perfect opportunity to bring it there, since Head Boy and Head Girl got a private dormitory, lessening the chance of it being found and the chance of everyone pinpointing him as a Muggle-loving dolt.

_Head Boy._ That was another thing his father and mother had been raving about. Because of this, he had been allowed to go to the Leeds Festival. He had almost been spotted by Dean Thomas while the Alkaline Trio was onstage, actually…a so-called Gryffindor Muggleborn. He had immediately apparated a few feet away from Dean. If word had let out that Draco liked Muggles a little more than he had let on, his reputation was ruined. People thought that he didn't like Muggles at all, but he was actually quite fascinated with them. Still, he couldn't help but think of them as a lower life form; because, according to his father, they _were_ lower life forms, and they will always be.

"Partly true." he thought about Muggles as he checked the time on his signature Wizard watch; the newest watch produced in the Wizarding world since last week. Draco Malfoy only really followed trends relating to broomsticks; but he actually liked that green leather watch, "It's time."

He landed on the moist grass below and he set his broom down near one of the trees and took the materials he needed for that day's prank. He then apparated inside Ginny Weasley's bedroom with a bucket of cold water. According to the time Hermione set on her alarm clock, she was the type to wake up early, logically being the first one out of the room the next morning…

He kept very quiet. The cat Hermione owned was lounging under the bed, only his tail visible, and Draco doubted that the cat would wake up, whatever his name was.

As he set it up, he noticed a leather-bound book on Hermione's bedside. After making sure that the plan would work flawlessly, he made his way to Hermione's bedside and took the leather-bound book off the table. He opened it to the first page, and a smile spread across his face: his trademark smirk.

It read: _Hermione Granger's Diary_

He considered stealing it, but there was nothing written in it and it looked new. Then he remembered a spell that was frequently used by Death Eaters. "duplicem libris", they called it, and it wasn't any kind of dark art. It was an old but easy spell to duplicate anything written on a book, piece of parchment or papyrus before and after the spell was performed. But he was underage, and the only form of magic he could perform was apparition. Seventh Year students will be required to take the 'Oath of Responsibility' before they can be declared allowed to use magic outside school grounds at the start of that term. He would have to wait until that school year started to steal the diary and perform the spell.

Before setting the diary down, he noticed a Hogwarts letter on the table as well. He read it silently before feeling the urge to swear as loud as he could.

"_She's_ Head Girl?" he kept repeating to himself until he realized that it was an opportunity for havoc.

"She's Head Girl", he repeated under his breath before apparating back to the lawn. Once he was down there, he fought the instinct to do a little dance. "Malfoys _don't _dance"

With a faint thumping sound, he was gone.

**

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Hermione Granger awoke the next morning, refreshed from her slumber. She looked over at Ginny. Ginevra Weasley was still asleep. Hermione decided to go and take a shower before breakfast; it was always good to get an early start, especially if you had the time to go about things at a leisurely pace. She reached for the handle and one thing lead to another.

_Splash—_"Aaaaaahhhh!"

Hermione, although it didn't sound like her at all, let out a high pitched scream that woke everyone at the Burrow as the bucket came tumbling onto her head. So overcome with shock, she made no effort to remove it from her head at all. She stared at nothing at all until Ron and Harry came trudging down the stairs. Ginny had shot up in bed, fluffed her pillow and went back to sleep. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been awake anyway, and had started to make their way to the third landing, where Ginny's bedroom was. Apparently, they hadn't thought about apparating, as they were as shocked as Hermione was. Fred and George stayed the night in the back room of their joke shop, where there was a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. They were experimenting with a new type of trick, so they weren't there to see what was happening.

"Hermione, are you all right?"

Hermione reached up to remove the bucket from her head, dripping wet with the coldest water that had touched her skin in ages.

"What happened, dear?" Molly Weasley asked, a little confused but mostly concerned.

Hermione was not the type to be impolite, but she screamed, "CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHO'S PLAYING THESE IMMATURE TRICKS ON ME?"

That was the exact moment that Ginny Weasley shot up from bed again and screamed, "SOMEONE'S TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!"

"OH, BE QUIET GINNY!" Ron screamed back.

Molly Weasley promptly screamed, "WILL EVERYONE BE QUIET?"

* * *

In a span of thirty minutes, Hermione had taken a shower and changed into dry, warm, pressed house clothes and tight her hair into a neat bun again. By the time that Molly Weasley had finished cooking breakfast, she had arrived downstairs to explain what had happened. She started from what had happened during the previous morning, when her alarm clock had been messed up with. 

"…and so, a bucket of really, really cold water fell on me the minute I opened the door", she finished.

"Hermione, aren't these Muggle practical jokes?" Harry asked, remembering Dudley playing these tricks on him a few years back. Dudley had picked up a book called, "100 things to do when you get bored", which Harry stole for a night to get back at Dudley. He was, of course, caught and was punished by Uncle Vernon. The incident being a long time ago, Harry had forgotten what the punishment was, but he recalled it to be difficult to endure, exhausting and quite sticky.

"You think a Muggle's been doing this to me?" Hermione replied by asking a question in turn, "Harry, I highly doubt that. It was a Mrs. Scower's professional cleaning bucket. Where would a Muggle get that?"

"I didn't say that. I was thinking, that a wizard or witch could be playing these tricks on you—"

Harry was cut off by Ron Weasley, "Must be that git Draco Malfoy…"

"Ron, I doubt that as well. I mean, why would he go out of his way just to play these tricks on me? Besides, he's a snobby, obnoxious Pureblood. Don't you think that he'd rather eat dirt than touch Muggle stuff; furthermore play Muggle practical jokes?"

"Oh, right…" Ron said, obviously very much open to the idea of Malfoy eating dirt, "But he can't do magic out of school grounds yet anyway, so, maybe he'd resort to Muggle tricks"

"But if he was the one playing all these tricks, don't you think he would've gone to Harry first?"

"No more talk about that," Mrs. Weasley said cheerfully, "Have some breakfast first…"

Ginny stood up to help her mum distribute the food, and Hermione passed them around and poured the juice into the little glasses.

"Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, I'd like to apologize for my behavior earlier—"

"That's quite alright dear—", Mr. Weasley started.

"We understand that you had quite a surprise. A bucket of cold, cold water…honestly, who would do such a thing…but let's just leave the matter and talk about something a lot less… dreary, shall we?"

"Right", Ron said, reaching for his second piece of toast.

* * *

Hermione had half-forgotten about the incident until she saw the metal bucket resting on the kitchen table. She never wanted to have that kind of experience again. It was cold, wet and degrading. What made it even worse was that she had no idea who did it, as Harry, Ron and Ginny all swore that they had nothing to do with it. Besides, where would they get a Mrs. Scower's all-new professional self-rinsing bucket? Wouldn't they have used an old bucket or something? 

That left Hermione confused; a feeling that she hated experiencing, especially right before the start of the new school year.

Then she remembered her diary. It was right where she set it down: on the side table. She turned to the first blank page and started writing.

_August 29th_

_So, this is my first entry. I suppose that it should be memorable, but I can't really think of any way to make it so that it would be the most special page of this diary…_

* * *

When Hermione had finished writing that entry, she felt completely content and considerably lighter, like she had transferred the chilly water experience to the diary. She felt like it was the diary's problem, not hers. She then took her Arithmancy book to start reading. She had barely turned a page when someone knocked on her door. 

"Hermione!" Ginny Weasley said, overly-excited, "Bill and Charlie are here!"

"I'll be right down," she said, and she put the book back in her trunk. When she arrived, Bill and Charlie were talking animatedly with Fred and George. They had also just arrived with what looked like bags and bags of Wildfire Whiz-Bangs, and they were sitting there with wide grins on their faces.

"…bought boxes and boxes of portable swamps…", she heard George or Fred say. It was hard to tell, as they had their backs turned. Charlie caught sight of Hermione, and waved at her, "Good evening, Hermione"

Bill looked up as well, "Hermione", he said and nodded in her direction with a smile. Fred and George looked behind them and raised there hands in greeting.

"Oy, Hermione, I heard that you had a little…incident this morning—" Fred said.

"Imagine being so thick having to make use of Muggle ways…how primitive", George said.

"So I take it you had nothing to do with it then?" Hermione asked.

"Nope. We've been locked up in the back room all day, making some new wheezes", George replied, "Lots and lots of progress actually…"

"Someone even asked us where the owners were and when we said that we _were _the owners, the lady asked us where the _real _owners were…honestly"

"Must be fun then," Bill said standing up to use the loo. About a few minutes after he had come back from the loo, a snowy owl, similar to Hedwig, came tapping on the window. Ron, who had just beaten Harry at Wizard's Chess, opened the window and took the letter tied onto its foot.

"Oh Bill, it's for you. From _Fleur_", Ron said grimacing. He still had the tiniest crush on her.

Bill took it and left the room to read it somewhere else.

"I'd forgotten that they were dating…" Harry said. He had just come in from the kitchen, holding a glass of water. "Anyway, Ron, your mum says it's time to eat"

Just like a few years back, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had set up tables in the garden again, where they had a hearty meal consisting of mince pies, boiled potatoes, salad, roast beef, lamb chops and her homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert.

"Anyway, Fleur and I were talking about _marriage…_" Bill was saying.

Mrs. Weasley dropped her fork into her plate, making everyone look towards her. Mr. Weasley coughed and had seemed like he was avoiding blinking at all.

"Mum, mum…don't worry. I don't think it's going to be anytime soon. We were just _talking_ about it. No use of getting hyped up about it" Bill said.

Hermione turned to look at Ron, who was talking about Glenda Chittock, the presenter for WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network), with Fred and George. They had recently been interviewed as word got out that they had started a very successful joke shop.

"So, what was she like?"

"She was snotty and bossy…" Fred said, "but she did enjoy our fake wands…laughed her head off when it turned into a rubber chicken…"

"She gets easily amused, actually…" George said.

"…or maybe she was just trying to be polite…"

That was when Hermione felt something soft on her ankle. She looked down. It was just Crookshanks. She exhaled and stroked the cat's fur. Crookshanks just purred and went off into the bushes, looking for gnomes, most likely.

Then she remembered that she hadn't seen Hedwig around at all.

"Harry?"

"Umff?"

"Where's Hedwig? I haven't seen her around…"

Harry swallowed his food and took a sip of pumpkin juice before replying, "Off hunting…hasn't been back since yesterday. That owl eats way too much"

Hermione managed a laugh.

"You still don't know who played that trick on you?" Harry asked, suddenly aware that it still bothered Hermione. It actually bothered him a little too, but he tried not to think about it that much.

"I've no idea at all"

* * *

Draco lay on his bed, his bedspread being a dark blue and his pillowcases made of a silky silver material. He had been thinking about what prank to pull on Granger next. He leafed through the book that Blaise had left in his possession. 

He had checked off all the pranks that he could use, and he made a list of the materials that he needed to bring to Hogwarts. He came up with quite a long list then he had expected, but he was, nonetheless, excited to try those tricks out. Draco Malfoy was never excited until today. He had once or twice been anxious or nervous, but never excited. It was such a primitive feeling: excitement. He had concluded that he wasn't feeling excitement, but rather, _devious._

Granger was someone that shouldn't be underestimated. She was a Mudblood, yes, but she was a very clever witch. She was on top of their year, after all, even Draco had to admit it.

"But not for long," he thought as he put on his Muggle clothing. He had a few sets of Muggle clothing in case he or his family needed to go out to Muggle London. He often wore these at King's Cross at the start of the term.

He then apparated behind the nearest convenience store in the nearest Muggle town. He walked as casually as he could manage inside the store, about a notch below his confident stride. Then, he showed the piece of paper to one of the employees. That particular employee happened to be a blonde teenaged girl who was Draco's age. She blushed when he said, "Where could I find these things?" to her.

She was staring at him intently as he took a bottle of this and that and a can of whatever and however and she even held her breath while he read the labels under his breath.

"How effective is this?" he asked her, holding up a spray of whateverthatis. He felt quite stupid actually, shopping in a store full of Muggles.

"Quite effective", she replied dreamily, not taking her gaze of off him.

He didn't reply, but instead moved on to the next shelf. He smirked when he heard the girl let out a sigh.

He gathered all the things that he collected and placed them on the counter, where an equally smitten brunette was checking him out while holding each item to the barcode reader. "Can you hurry up…please?" Draco asked, his tone forcibly innocent. He was rarely polite, but it amused him to see the girl blush at such a stupid word: 'please'.

The brunette, whose name tag said 'Charlotte', said, "Sure", and she held the last item to the laser barcode reader. It made a beeping sound and she packed it into the paper bag. Draco took out the thick wad of cash from his pocket and he pulled out some Muggle notes and coins. (He had Wizard money exchanged for Muggle money at Gringotts)

Charlotte's mouth hung open when she saw how rich he was. He handed her the money and said, "Keep the change". For the heck of it, before he exited the store, he turned his head to Charlotte and winked. He had a split second worth of Charlotte stepping back, her mouth still hanging open. He was halfway out the door when he heard coins falling on the floor with a clink and some gasps from some of the weary customers and employees.

He was about two feet away from the store when he heard, "CHARLOTTE, I SAW HIM FIRST!"

He rolled his eyes as he made his way behind the store and was thinking about how gullible Muggles were when he disapparated.

* * *

**_A/N: Thanks for reading the second chapter of By Some Cruel Twist of Fate_ **

**_Some notes:_**

_**1. I actually researched for this fic, so I'm quite sure I got ALL my facts correct.**_

**_2. The Leeds Festival exists. It's basically a huge concert with tons of really awesome acts._**

_**3. A Creative Zen is similar to an iPOD, except a different brand.**_

**_4. Duplicem Libris means, "Duplicate Book" in Latin. _**

_**I'd like to thank all of my reviewers: **The Lady of the 4leafed Clover, gcho, MrsPadfootVerona, cutebutdangerous, sad-soulz, sweetncute325, Silent Masquerade, Celi, Little Black Poko-chan, someone, fujutsu_

**_To everyone who read my first DMHG fic, I will NOT be making a sequel. I like it as it is. But thanks for reading it, anyway._**

**_Also, the Muggle boys who live across Hermione don't have anything to do with the main plot, unless I think of a good part for them to play. But as of now, nope, nothing.  
_**

_**I've researched, typed, and thought and thought. I've also read it through and edited it. Now, maybe, you'd like to take some time to REVIEW?**_

_**Thank you all.**_

_**

* * *

**_


	3. Third

**By Some Cruel Twist of Fate**

**

* * *

**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter. :sniff:

**Summary**: Someone is reading Hermione's diary, and through that information, a series of practical jokes befall her…all from Draco Malfoy. However, something happens that Draco isn't counting on: LOVE.

**Pairing**: DMHG

**Setting**: Seventh Year

* * *

_Chapter 3_

By the time Hermione Granger had finished her meal, Fred and George Weasley had already summoned the three bags of Wildfire Whiz bangs. They were planning on letting out fireworks to celebrate mainly two things: first, a successful year at the joke shop and second, the last school year of Harry, Ron and Hermione.

This was the exact moment that Hermione realized that there was no turning back at all; there was no way out and no actual good, acceptable reason to. This wasn't some sad, sad dream that Hermione could wake up to and smile at herself; this was reality, shaping up what ever future that was in store for them. She watched as the twins set up the fireworks at a safe distance from their small but enthusiastic audience, and then she looked down on the dry grass.

"Come sit with us, Hermione," Ron called from a few feet away. He and Harry were seated on the grass, giving them a view of the Whiz bangs at a very good angle.

Ginny, Bill and Charlie, and their parents were seated a bit apart from Ron and Harry, eager to enjoy the fireworks as a family. They may not have all the gold they wanted—or needed, but they had each other, and for the red-headed Weasleys, that was very much more than enough.

Hermione breathed then took a seat in between Ron and Harry. That gave her an overwhelming yet unexplainable sense of protection and contentment.

Fred and George rushed over to Mrs. Weasley's side, nearly knocking down Ginny. They didn't notice the warning look their mother gave them as they pointed their wands in different directions and said, "Adonitis!", a blasting spell that ignited the fireworks. At that very instant, the fireworks began and each one of them watching the Whiz bangs contemplated.

Ron put his arm on Hermione's shoulder and he grinned broadly at Harry as a blast of orange and yellow shot up from the ground. The colors danced around in the sky for a while and Ron watched intently as he thought of things. Here he was, best friends with the two most amazing people in the world.

Before his first year at Hogwarts, he had always thought that he'd end up a misfit. Bill was smart, and so was Percy—who however was never to be spoken of again in the Weasley household. Therefore, during their Hogwarts years, they were given due respect. Charlie and the twins were wicked awesome Quidditch players. Plus, the twins were witty, funny and successful, famous also for their flight from the Hogwarts castle in Ron's fifth year.

But he? Him? Ronald Bilius Weasley had none of that. He was too tall, awkward and he had no idea what Hogwarts was like. He knew better than to rely on Fred and George's description of the place. Even those of Charlie's or Percy's were vague. He had to know firsthand the wrath of Snape, homework, and homework from Snape or whatever other things his brothers told him about. But here was where he ended up, with Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, the Gryffindor Quidditch hero and with Hermione Granger, the smartest girl in their class. He smiled to himself as the orange and yellow showered them, the flame replaced by a sweet liquid.

Harry had his head on Hermione's shoulder and grinned back at Ron. He couldn't be any happier than he was at that moment. He had left his miserable life at the Dursleys. Two months of summer was always nothing to him as he always had next school year to look forward to. That summer, he looked forward to that being the last. He'd continue his life in the Wizarding world, independent. He knew that he and his friends faced a different year.

As Harry watched the impossible-to-count number of sparks or blue rocket to the sky at such great speed, he was reminded once again that after the passing of this year, he'd become free of the Dursleys. He would be free from the chain that bound him from running away. There were so many challenges that he still had to face, but at that point, he really didn't care. All he could think about now was being who he wanted to be and doing what he wanted to do. He shifted his weight as he lifted his head off Hermione's shoulder and looked up and adjusted his glasses, making his view of the sky clearer than ever, as specks of green joined the blue. The colors erupted before them with a hushed sound as they slowly disappeared.

Hermione put her hand around Harry's arm and pulled him closer as she rested her head on Ron's shoulder. This question rang inside her head: what's going to happen in their seventh year? Just as several fountains of red shot up to the slightly starry sky, splashes of pink tainted the red and they exploded, making a loud booming noise.

A bright purple zoomed up and went higher and higher that it disappeared. For a few seconds nothing happened. But all of them gasped when it suddenly rained purple. None of it touched the ground of course as they exploded in midair and was followed by beautiful fountains of yellow, orange, green, blue, red, pink and violet. As the colors of fire made their way to the night sky, they transformed into fiery butterflies that flew away to the stars.

Nobody spoke for a second, as they took some time to take it all in. George Weasley, satisfied with the show he and his twin put on, broke the silence, "What did you lot think about it, then?"

Everyone spoke at the same time, but George hadn't the time or capability to hear any of it since he was suddenly hugged tightly by Molly Weasley. George didn't speak for a while. He merely fell silent under the weight and warmth of his mother's arms. Soon, both he and Fred were being squeezed by their mother.

"Right. Time for bed," Mrs. Weasley said quickly as she let the twins go and straightened her robes, her eyes gleaming under the moonlight.

Ron looked up. He had been staring at the grass the second his mum started hugging the twins.

Hermione and Ginny had taken a handful of plates each to be brought to the kitchen. Arthur Weasley hurried to use the loo. Bill and Charlie had gone to bed, as they needed to get quite an early start the next day. Harry had taken Crookshanks as Hermione had asked him to, and brought him into the house. Fred and George had disapparated into their room.

Mrs. Weasley was about to bewitch the table when Ron stepped in front of her and said, "Mum?"

"Yes, Ron dear?" she answered.

Everything seemed to happen so fast, and yet the world seemed to move so slowly under their feet when Ron did what he did. He had hugged his mother and said, his eyes tired but full of emotion, "I love you, mum". His ears turned red and he walked away into the house as quickly as possible.

Mrs. Weasley was left, stunned. Ron had never, ever said that to her after the age of six, and of that sincerity. As far as she knew, Ron was never fond of showing emotions, just like the rest of her sons. It was the most amazing feeling to know that something she did—although she was clueless as to what—had made a strong impact on her youngest son.

Hermione had been about to step out to collect more plates when she caught sight of what Ron had done to his mum. She smiled and missed her own mum. She always showed affection to her mum, and she had always meant it and she was extremely surprised at Ron's sudden action.

She knew that Ron never really liked letting out feelings other than anger or excitement, and it refreshed Hermione to know that Ron was capable of showing love. She always knew that her red-headed friend had that kind of feeling, but she never thought that he'd show it.

She smiled even wider as she saw Mrs. Weasley's reaction. Molly Weasley must be, at that minute, the happiest mother on earth, and she must be one of the best, having that effect on her son. She went back inside the house as Ron retreated towards it. Then, after Ron stepped inside, she stepped outside again and collected the rest of the plates, pretending that she hadn't seen anything.

Mrs. Weasley had started moving quickly, bewitching everything else on the tables to follow her into the kitchen. Hermione took the plates that she held and followed Mrs. Weasley into the kitchen, smiling.

* * *

Ginny Weasley also seemed to notice that her mother hugging the twins was not an everyday, ordinary sight. She didn't really know how to react. Before the fireworks show, her mother hadn't shown any sign of approval towards that twins' choice of leaving Hogwarts and starting a joke shop. Ginny knew that her mum wanted Fred and George to work for the Ministry, or for a good place, like Gringotts, where Bill worked. They could even maybe work with dragons, like Charlie did. But then Ginny reminded herself that Percy—who was never, ever to be spoken of again—worked in the Ministry; look at what had happened in Ginny's fourth year!

She was suddenly overcome with a feeling of happiness towards her twin brothers. "Finally," she thought as she put down the brush she was untangling her hair with and got to bed.

Fred Weasley sat down on his bed and remembered the hug. He cringed. He never liked his mother's perfume, but it was the most pleasant thing when she hugged him. He never really liked being hugged either, but it left him with a good feeling inside of him; a feeling that maybe his mother has accepted what he and George wanted to do. He forced off his shoes and got into bed.

In the bed across Fred's, George Weasley lay down and thought about the hug. Maybe his mother was going through a phase, or maybe the fireworks had a negative effect on her. But as he changed his sleeping position, he couldn't help but feel something positive deep down inside of him.

Ron Weasley brushed his teeth vigorously. "Oy, watch it, you'll scrub your teeth out", Harry warned. Ron grinned and then he realized why he was so tense, even when brushing his teeth. He gargled and spit and rinsed. "Thanks, mate", he said to Harry, who picked up his toothbrush and started applying toothpaste.

Ron left the bathroom and entered his room. It was still plastered with Chudley Cannons posters, and the frog spawn had turned to almost full-grown frogs. His collection of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle, had been put in a box as it was crowding his room when in a stack. Now, there were stacks of old textbooks and boxes of used parchment.

Ron got into bed and slept, satisfied. He had done what he wanted to do, at the expense of whatever he had to lose; and it turned out to be very much worth it after all.

Back in the bathroom, Harry finished brushing his teeth and was about to leave the bathroom when a very bubbly Hermione entered it.

"What's with you?" he asked her, and she smiled and replied, "Ron is capable of showing affection, did you know?"

"Wait. What do you mean?" he was extremely puzzled. As far as he knew, Ron did not like showing any sort of affection to any sort of person. It was that kind of attitude that had gotten tons of emotion bottled up in his best friend.

"I just saw him hug Mrs. Weasley, after you lot left the garden"

"That's new"

"I know", she said, smiling, "Finally…"

Then she picked up her toothbrush. That was all Harry caught sight of before he left the bathroom.

* * *

Hermione woke up the next day extremely suspicious that another trap might be set up for her again. Before stepping down from her bed, she looked at the floor and studied it carefully and with every step she took toward the door, she checked in every direction if there was anything at all.

She quickly closed the door behind her, relieved that there wasn't anything there and then suddenly felt something oozing under her feet. She lifted her left foot up and studied the gross substance. Judging by the smell, Hermione concluded it was honey; extremely sticky honey. Although it wasn't a shock like the cold water, she felt extremely sticky and terribly dirty. Another thing was, she had no idea how to clean that up.

She stood there in the honey, disgusted as to who would do that to her. The person was obviously smart enough to know Hermione's habit of waking up before most of the household did. That was proven when the time on her alarm clock changed. Maybe the idea of Draco Malfoy doing this to her wasn't so far-fetched after all.

"But there isn't anything I could do about that now, is there?" she thought bitterly as she tiptoed to the bathroom, trying but failing not to get honey on the rest of the hallway.

Outside the hallway window, Draco Malfoy smirked. He had done it again. He had watched Granger step into the heap of honey and he felt an odd but familiar sensation of satisfaction. He grinned as the bushy haired mudblood made her way to the bathroom.

He swooped down quickly to the ground and landed firmly on his feet. He apparated into the hallway with the enchanted cleaning rag he took from under the sink of his family's mansion in Wiltshire. He set it on top of the mess and it cleaned quickly in a few seconds, even waxing the floor a little bit.

"The Weasleys should be thanking me", he thought, "I've helped them clean grime from their dirty, cheap house—or whatever it is"

He disapparated onto the ground and mounted his broom again.

In the bathroom, Hermione washed off the honey from her feet and ankles strenuously, hoping that Ginny hadn't woken up yet. Then she grabbed toilet paper and sprinkled it with water, hoping that a few trips back and forth to the loo would be enough to get the bloody stuff out of the floor.

When she saw that the floor was extremely clean and not even a drop of honey was left on the floor, she swore under her breath and walked into the bathroom, prepared to take a nice, long, freezing cold shower.

Draco watched as she retreated into the loo. "Mudblood," he said to the empty hallway, and he flew off.

* * *

"Bloody practical jokes…bloody stuff…damned honey" Hermione thought angrily as she entered the kitchen. Bill, Charlie and the twins had already left. Bill had work at Gringotts, Charlie met up with some friends and the twins continued their experiments in their shop at 93 Diagon Alley.

Her friends seemed to catch on to her bad mood as she sat down at her place in the table.

"Hermione, would you like hotcakes or bacon?"

Hermione looked from her sulking in surprise, "Oh, hotcakes please", she told Mrs. Weasley, forcing a smile.

"Would you like some honey with it, dear?"

Hermione cringed. "No, no, no thank you, Mrs. Weasley. Maybe butter, please?"

Mrs. Weasley cheerily handed her the butter and she took it, opened it and started spreading heaps of it into her hotcakes.

"Something bothering you, Hermione?" Ginny asked as her agitated friend cut the hotcakes into extremely small pieces.

"Actually," she started as-a-matter-of-factly, "some prat put honey on the floor just outside your bedroom door"

"But I didn't see any honey when I went out of my room…the floor wasn't even sticky", Ginny said.

"Goodness!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, "It must've been quite tricky to clean it out then"

"When I came out of the loo to clean it up, it was gone", Hermione said, "Must've been cleaned out by magic"

"Hermione, I told you it was that scumbag Malfoy," Ron piped up.

"Must've been", Harry joined in.

"Under his father's influence, no doubt", Mr. Weasley said, setting down his coffee mug, "No worries, only two more nights 'til start of term and you'll be sleeping peacefully in your dormitory in Hogwarts"

* * *

Today was Harry's apparition test, and Hermione and Ron tagged along. Hermione came to see if she could be fit in, and Ron came to see how well Harry would do. Mr. Weasley, who worked for the Ministry came with them.

They made their way from Devon to the heart of London, cramming themselves inside the red telephone box in the not so crowded street, as it was the only way for visitors to access the Ministry of Magic's headquarters.

Mr. Weasley made his way to the receiver and dialed quickly 62442. The welcome witch's almost computerized voice prompted them to state their names and business.

"Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, apparition test, accompanied by Arthur Weasley, head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office", he stated clearly into the receiver.

Three silver badges slipped out with the teenagers' names and their purpose of visit. Harry's read, 'Harry Potter: Standard Apparition Test'

Harry stuck it onto his shoulder and Ron and Hermione did the same. They stood in the telephone box as it went underground into the Atrium. They exited the telephone box and saw the Fountain of Magical Brethren. It looked more beautiful than ever to Harry, who had last entered the ministry in his fifth year.

Before the golden gates, was the security stand. The guard on duty was Cire Gobble. Eric Munch, the usual guard, was on holiday somewhere in the countryside. He took down Hermione's, Ron's and Harry's names and wand descriptions and nodded to Mr. Weasley. The employees' names and wands have already been filed and registered, so there really wasn't any need to take that down.

He smiled to the trio as they took their wands and entered the golden gates into the small hall where the lifts were. They entered the lifts and since they were in the eight level where the Atrium was, they went down to the sixth, where the Department of Magical Transportation was.

Harry was feeling a bit nervous and a bit excited. Hermione felt neither, since she wasn't even sure if they'd accept an application at such a short notice.

With a sharp 'cling' sound, the lift's doors opened, and they exited. They passed the Floo Regulation Panel and Harry looked down as Madam Edgecombe looked at him sourly. She probably hadn't forgotten about that incident with her daughter, Marietta when several spots and blemishes appeared the moment Marietta betrayed Dumbledore's Army to Umbridge. Apparently, Marietta was still in therapy.

They made their way past Broom Regulatory Control. Ron's ankles nearly got hit by a rogue broom. Hermione was taken aback when it suddenly shot past her and smashed into the Portkey Office were several people gasped and let out small screams of surprise.

Then, they entered the Apparition Test Center, where a middle-aged woman with corn-yellow hair greeted them with a toothy smile.

"Arthur Weasley, Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, aren't you?" she said in a singsong voice, "And these are your children?"

"No, just him", Mr. Weasley said, pointing to Ron, who smiled politely at the lady.

"Oh yes, I remember him," she said after she glanced at Ron, "Very good apparition. Very controlled"

Mr. Weasley beamed at his son, and motioned for Harry to step forward.

"And this is Harry Potter?" she asked, ruffling Harry's hair so it was even messier than it already was, "My, have you grown up"

"Thanks", Harry said. His intonation showed that it was more of a question than an answer.

"Yes, and this is Hermione Granger. We were wondering if you could—erm; possibly, squeeze her apparition test in, after Harry's?"

"We'll see how Mr. Potter's examination goes first. If he finishes earlier than expected, then maybe Miss…"

"Granger", Arthur Weasley supplied.

"…Miss Granger's apparition exam is possible to fit in"

"Thank you very much, Miss…?"

"Lockhart, Miss Georgina Lockhart—distant cousin of Gilderoy, of course"

"Of course", Mr. Weasley said, "Thank you, Ms. Lockhart—children, after the examinations are over, you could go up to my office and we could have lunch together"

* * *

They entered a room that stretched about 500 meters, with marks lined up every 10 meters and flags placed every 50 meters. On the fiftieth, hundredth, two-hundred fiftieth and five hundredth meter, the flags were red, but the rest were yellow.

"Okay, Mr. Potter," Miss Georgina Lockhart said, patting his shoulders, "Here's a basic pre-test: disapparate from here onto the ten meter mark"

She patted his shoulders again and then ruffled his hair before she stepped to the side. "Go on when you're ready Mr. Potter," she called out to him, "State the incantation and the place where you want to be, specifically"

Harry took a deep breath, the kind he took before playing Quidditch, and then he faced the 10 meter mark and took a deep breath. According to Hermione's ramblings on the way over to the telephone box, even the slightest drop of concentration was helpful. A good focus on the destination was required and just a bit of luck. Hermione had chuckled when she talked about luck. As far as she was concerned, there was no such thing.

Harry on the other hand wished for all the luck in the world, and he concentrated with all his might and focused his eyes on the 10 meter mark.

"Ten meter mark, Apparition Testing Center, Ministry of Magic, London… Appareo!", he said under his breath.

Then the oddest sensation took over him and he thought he heard something like a cash register's bell when it opened, but he couldn't be quite sure. The next thing he knew, he was standing two inches away from the ten meter mark.

"Mine was more precise", Ron whispered to Hermione. This was something he did better than Harry, and he wasn't afraid to brag about it. It's not like he would be taken seriously anyway.

"Oh, shut it, Ron", Hermione said, "It's his first try"

"Good, acceptable attempt, Mr. Potter", she said, "But you missed the mark by a few inches. Now, apparate back to the zero meter mark and attempt the fifteen meter mark"

Harry repeated the process and almost effortlessly apparated to the zero meter mark. Both his feet stood on the mark, exactly but he lost a little balance and stumbled back. He collected himself, his cheeks burning crimson, and concentrated on appearing on the fifteen meter mark. He had no idea what happened after he muttered the incantation but then he found himself standing firmly on the fifteen meter mark. He grinned at Hermione and Ron, who were still watching him.

He had done it. He had accomplished what he had hoped to that day.

Many other tests followed that one, but it was the first time he did it properly that imprinted itself on his head.

He was asked to apparate to the fifty, one hundred, two hundred fifty and five hundred meter marks. Afterwards, a solid brick wall came down from the ceiling and blocked the first 200 meters from the rest. Harry didn't have any trouble with that. A beaming Miss Lockhart asked him to apparate to the 300 meter mark and he did so.

Then, he was asked to apparate to the Atrium, specifically near the Fountain of Magical Brethren. The testing center was the only place in the Ministry where you could apparate and the main Atrium was the only place where you could disapparate to. This was why there was maximum security in these two places after office hours. But then, it had been broken into once by the death eaters some two years ago, and so the security had been tightened.

He did so effortlessly and he was proud of himself. His friends were waiting in the Testing Center when his picture was taken by a magical camera.

"Right, Mr. Potter, you've passed the standard apparition test and your license will be processed shortly"

He was sitting down beside Ron and Hermione when Miss Lockhart held an envelope. She took out its contents: a small, hard piece of parchment and big, normal one, printed with two paragraphs. He was asked to sign the biggest piece and was told that the smaller one would be filed.

"Congratulations, Mr. Potter"

Miss Lockhart now turned to Hermione, "Now, Miss Granger? It's your turn"

* * *

**_A/N: Thanks for reading the second chapter of By Some Cruel Twist of Fate_ **

**_Some notes:_**

_**Adonitis means blast in latin**_

_**Appareo means appear in latin**_

**_I've researched, typed, and thought and thought. I've also read it through and edited it. Now, maybe, you'd like to take some time to REVIEW? Hit that button, you know you want to_**

_**Thanks to: melovedraco, the princess 06, platonic kitten, alenor, celi, fujutsu, silent masquerade**_

**_Thank you all. KEEP ON REVIEWING. I get motivated by reviews so if you want the next chapter anytime soon, then maybe you should review._**

**_

* * *

_**


	4. Fourth

**By Some Cruel Twist of Fate

* * *

**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter. :sniff:

**Summary**: Someone is reading Hermione's diary, and through that information, a series of practical jokes befall her…all from Draco Malfoy. However, something happens that Draco isn't counting on: LOVE.

**Pairing**: DMHG

**Setting**: Seventh Year

_

* * *

Chapter 4_

Hermione's eyes widened. She read countless essays and chapters on apparition: _The Dangers and Benefits of Inter-Continental Apparition, Fashionable Apparition for the Self-Conscious Witch, Basic Apparition, Passing Your Standard Apparition Test Without Looking Like a Dolt. _But she knew from experience, that like flying, reading everything about a certain topic won't really do much if you don't actually practice, and since she had no way to practice apparition before her exam, she felt extremely stupid and red at the cheeks as she stood up from the bench and gave a nervous look towards a confident Ron and grinning Harry.

Harry showed his support by giving her a double thumbs up and Ron shrugged towards her. That was his idea of support, and Hermione appreciated it, really, but she wished Ron would show his feelings more often.

Miss Lockhart fixed her blue eyes on Hermione's brown ones, and gave her a forced, toothy grin. Hermione gave her a questioning look, took a deep breath and walked over to the zero meter mark. She tapped her feet nervously and waited for instructions.

"Right, Miss Granger, kindly apparate to the ten meter mark. State the incantation after you've said your desired location. Learning from Mr. Potter's wee mistake, please be clear and specific. Begin when you're ready, but we haven't really much time"

Hermione nodded. "Ten meter mark, apparition test center, sixth floor, Ministry of Magic, Central London…Appareo!" she said, concentrating as hard as she could on the bright yellow marks painted on the floor. Then she felt as if her feet were lifted of the ground and brought back down. She felt a little hazy but then she looked down at where her feet were planted, and felt a wide grin spread across her pale face, bringing the color back into her skin.

She was standing squarely on the ten-meter mark. She caught Harry's eye and grinned more broadly and she turned to look at Ron, who couldn't help but grin as well. Hermione turned to look at Miss Lockhart, who forced another smile and told her to disapparate back to the zero meter mark.

Soon, afterwards, she was signing parchment and was officially allowed to apparate. "Congratulations, Hermione", said Harry. "You too, Harry", she replied, and looked at Ron, who was running his hand through his hair, then he caught Hermione's eye and gave a small congratulatory smile.

They made their way to the lift and pressed the button to level two, where the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was. They passed through the magical windows from which really bright sunshine streamed through.

Then, the trio passed several offices and saw some familiar faces. Amelia Bones, head of the department, gave a kind smile to them, her right eye glistening behind her monocle. They smiled back at her and they walked on by the broom closet and entered the small office where Mr. Weasley worked. The old warlock named Perkins nodded to them and tapped Arthur Weasley on the back. Mr. Weasley looked behind him and smiled.

"From your faces, I take it you both passed your apparition tests?"

Hermione nodded and Harry grinned back. "Thanks for taking us, Mr. Weasley," said Harry, and Hermione nodded even more to show that she agreed, "Yes, Mr. Weasley," Hermione said, "Thanks"

She really appreciated everything that Ron's mum and dad were doing for Harry and herself. It was a little surprising that they were extremely hospitable, considering that they had their own welfare to be concerned about. Hermione had gotten used to that, but still, she never took that for granted.

"Not at all," Mr. Weasley said, "Now, I'm quite hungry, anyone for a bit of lunch?"

**

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**

They had lunch in a small restaurant a few blocks away. All Harry and Hermione could talk about was the thrill of apparating from one place to the other and how they were free to do that whenever they wanted, within the regulations of the ministry of course. Then, Ron brought the subject of becoming of age to use magic outside of school.

"Finally," said Harry as they were walking towards an old building, "I could go and get a place to stay far, far away from the Dursleys"

Hermione laughed. She knew how much Harry was looking forward to moving away from the Dursleys, and she felt utmost happiness for her friend. She was actually still thinking about where to stay during her training. They still had a short training period after Hogwarts to prepare them for their chosen fields.

Hermione wanted to be a fully qualified healer, so she could magically heal her brother, Jake, when the time was right. She was brushing up on her Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions, some of her weakest subjects. She needed at least an E in five different NEWT level subjects. She was determined to make this ambition a reality.

Last year, she got several E's and quite a few O's in her classes, and she was concentrating on getting O's in every subject this year. Now, she had no idea how to do that, since she was going to be Head Girl, therefore, making her burden even heavier than she would've wanted. However, she found it a huge honor to be chosen for that position, and like Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's kindness, she didn't take this opportunity for granted at all.

"I don't know what to do when we get out from school. I might stay with my parents, but I'm looking forward to healer training," she said.

"Being a healer's boring, Hermione," Ron said, hitting Hermione's heart with those words, "but I guess if that's what you want…I might go and work with Charlie for a while"

"As a dragon keeper, Ron?" asked Harry.

"No as a shoe-shiner…of course a dragon keeper!"

Mr. Weasley was a few meters in front of them when he turned and said, "Ready?"

They were behind the old building and no one could see them from a few kilometers back. They had their backs against the wall and they looked around just to make sure. Ron, having completed his test weeks back, was extremely confident and so he went ahead an apparated first.

"Nervous, Harry? Hermione?" Mr. Weasley said with a kind smile, "Don't worry. Just repeat the address correctly…The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, United Kingdom—Appareo!" Hermione knew he said this louder so that they could catch on.

He'd barely started to wave when he disappeared suddenly; leaving Harry and Hermione to follow them back to the Burrow.

"At the same time then?" Harry suggested, and Hermione nodded.

"The Burrow," they said together, "Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, United Kingdom…Appareo!"

The next thing they knew, they were standing outside the burrow with huge, silly grins plastered on both their faces. They gave each other a proud nod and headed into the house where Ron and Mr. Weasley waited.

"Got here all right, you two?" Arthur Weasley inquired.

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Weasley," Hermione said.

"Good. I have to be on my way then. Just apparated here to see that you made it back safely," Mr. Weasley said, "I'll see you at dinner time"

"Bye, dad" Ron said before his father disapparated.

"So," the red haired boy said, "anyone for a game of wizard's chess?"

**

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**

The following night, Draco Malfoy was having trouble sleeping. He anticipated the coming of his initiation into the Death Eaters. He had been most excited about that day ever since his father had escaped from Azkaban in the previous year. His father had then gone into hiding with some of the other Death Eaters, checking back at the mansion every once in a while to pick up an artifact of Dark Magic or to attend private dinner parties with the Death Eaters that haven't been caught or identified as Voldemort's followers yet.

Needless to say, the Malfoy Mansion had more secrets than they would've liked anyone to know. The Ministry had been there twice, but hasn't found at least two of the compartments nor discovered the chamber beneath the drawing room floor. The Malfoys prided themselves in their ability to conceal and lie, some of the many 'values' passed on to each generation.

Draco Malfoy had his initiation scheduled for this December, although it wasn't a certain thing yet. He had been on the list ever since his birth, and even if he could avoid it and escape, the platinum blonde-haired boy doubted that he would've. He wanted to know what all the hype was about, what satisfaction was he to get from killing. He wanted to know how powerful the followers were; he wanted his curiosity to be at rest.

His grey eyes scanned his room. There was nothing to do. He checked his green leather watch. It was only eight o'clock. He had been sleepy a minute ago, but then his mind wandered to his upcoming initiation and he wondered what it would be like, to be branded officially evil. It was going to be fun, he could tell.

The initiation was kept very secret. Those who wanted to join the powerful Lord would get in line, scheduling their initiation. Of course, they would have to prove themselves worthy of the Dark Lord. If they failed, they were either killed or put under an unforgivable curse. They could always prove useful in the future.

Since it was an extremely confidential affair, Draco didn't know much about it. Some of the few bits of information he gathered were that he would be receiving the Dark Mark on his arm when—and if—he succeeded, and that the initiation lasted for about two hours. Other than that, he was clueless, and he hated that feeling.

Then came a point where there was nothing else to think about. Draco rolled over on his sheets and closed his eyes gently, pulling the blanket over himself.

**

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**

Miles away, Hermione Granger had her hair in a bun as she wrote in her diary the second entry:

_August 31st_

_Tomorrow is the start of term. Needless to say, tomorrow morning will probably turn out to be hectic, especially for Mrs. Weasley…_

She continued the rest of her entry and smiled as she set her quill down. They already had dinner a few minutes ago, and now it was time for bed. She took her diary and quill and put them in her already-packed trunk. They had packed earlier that afternoon since they were going to have to take taxis again to King's Cross. She went back to her bed and looked around for Ginny. The youngest Weasley was probably still in the loo. Hermione had never quite known anyone who spent so much time in the bathroom as Ginny Weasley.

There wasn't much of a breeze so Hermione didn't bother pulling up the covers. She rolled onto her side and started to drift off to sleep.

**

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**

The next morning, nobody talked, but it was the noisiest house in the neighborhood. There was the continuous dripping of water from the sinks and showers, the sizzling of the frying pans, the opening and closing of doors and of course, the tramping of feet. They ate breakfast quietly as they were all too sleepy to make any conversation. The taxis were due any minute now and Harry Potter had gotten into the shower last.

He had been waiting for Ron to get out of the third landing shower and had forgotten his towel. When he returned with his towel, he found that Mrs. Weasley had entered it after Ron came out. He was still way too sleepy to pay attention and he hadn't seen Mrs. Weasley exit and Hermione enter. When Hermione left, Ginny begged Harry to let her go first, as she had to pee. Therefore, he had to rush. He disliked rushing.

Just as he was putting on his shoes, one of the taxis gave a honk and several doors opened and closed, followed by loud footsteps down the stairs. Mrs.Weasley and Ron had brought the trunks and cages outside and the others had already gone out. He put on his right shoe and rushed out the door, finding that they were still trying to fit in Pigwidgeon's cage. Pig and Hedwig were sent off hunting so that they wouldn't look too suspicious when they got to Kings Cross.

The trip to King's Cross wasn't that bad. The trio sat in one taxi, and fortunately got stuck with a very quiet driver, an old man with graying hair, avoiding questions. They were usually asked about the trunks and cages so it was quite a relief when the driver didn't inquire about them. They chatted about anything they could think of that wasn't about wizards or witches, which wasn't really very much.

Hermione shifted in her seat beside Harry as they reached London. When they pulled up at King's Cross, the first thing that caught her eye was a platinum-blonde boy, none other than Draco Malfoy. Her face pulled a disgusted look as she saw the ferret talking to a few of what look like Muggle girls.

"His confidence is betraying him," she muttered, "He must be really thick to think he's attractive"

But as much as she hated admitting it, a lot of girls _did _seem to find him attractive. She and Ron were pulling the trunks onto trolleys as Draco's small group became a small female crowd. But she justified it by adding, "Those girls must be half-blind then"

Ron saw her looking at Draco and leaned over and whispered, "So, you think he did those Muggle pranks, then?"

"I'm starting to believe it, Ron but I really don't want to jump to conclusions yet" replied Hermione as she followed Ron and Harry to where Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were.

"You lot ready?" Mrs. Weasley asked, and they all nodded in excitement, "Harry and Ron, why don't you go first, dears?"

**

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**

Draco Malfoy, clothed in a black band t-shirt and dark baggy jeans, watched as Hermione and Ginny disappeared into the barrier, followed by a very tired—yet cheery—Mrs. Weasley. Some of the girls that surrounded him left to catch a train and by now only three flirty girls were there to talk to him and were trying the to chat him up. "As if I'd ever consider going out with any of these Muggles", he thought. He really just liked the attention.

He checked his watch and decided that it was time to go. He gave an uninterested look to the girls and said smoothly, "I better be going now. My aunt's illness would most possibly get worse if she discovers that I missed my train over to her house…". He bent down to collect his things, back against the girls, giving them a nice view of his rear end. He ran his hand through his hair before he waved goodbye to the girls. He did this all on purpose. It amused him to see their love struck faces before he turned his back to leave.

He entered the train sneering at anybody who wasn't a Slytherin, winking at the occasional Ravenclaw girl and looked for the prefects' compartment, which was at the back. It was made to accommodate all the prefects and the head boy and girl. When he entered, only a few fifth year prefects were there with Hermione Granger.

"You?" said Hermione incredulously, "_You're _the head boy?"

"Happy to see me, Granger?" he said as he took his seat. He pushed his trunk under his chair and set his eyes on Hermione's.

"I couldn't imagine anyone being happy to see you, Malfoy" Hermione answered, not taking her eyes off his.

"Then I suppose you have a very narrow imagination. So that's why your only technique is sucking up to the teachers…and that's not very original either"

"Neither are your comebacks, Malfoy. You're getting soft on the insults, I see", Hermione said as a few more prefects filed in.

When the compartment was full, Hermione's utmost priority was to give instructions to the prefects. She entered the compartment to see a fifth year prefect holding up a letter. The prefect had seen the letter on the seats and it was addressed to the "Head Boy and Girl". In it were instructions to be given and topics to discuss. She had been reading it and she had kept it again just a few seconds before Malfoy came in.

She opened the letter again and handed it furiously to Malfoy. "What's this," he asked, "a letter proclaiming your undying love for me?"

She rolled her eyes at him as he read the letter.

"Okay then, you little prats," Draco said to the scowling prefects, "your job is to maintain order and discipline at Hogwarts. Although I doubt you're capable of that, I do hope you don't screw up. The fifth-year prefects of each house will be required to patrol the Great Hall and dungeons to second floor corridors in the evening and the sixth-years will be required to patrol the third to fifth floor corridors. Needless to say, your head girl and I will be overlooking your duty work and we'll be patrolling the sixth and seventh floor, including the towers on some nights. Another thing would be the feasts; you need to report to us before one is to be held. That means—"

"—start of term, Halloween, Christmas and end-of-year feasts. We'll be posting notices in your common rooms, just in case," said Hermione impatiently, "Now, when we get to Hogwarts, your first responsibility is ushering the first years into the dormitories. I've also received a list of passwords into the common rooms, so—"

"—Here they are…" Draco glared at Hermione as he passed small sheets of paper to prefects of different houses, "They get changed on our command every few weeks, especially when Christmastime rolls around. After you've memorized them, please perform a vanishing spell on them before we reach the castle. No one would be as thick as to leave them lying around…and I suppose none of you _are _stupid since you were all chosen to be prefects—"

"As much as we'd like to hear the rest of your oh so empowering speech, Malfoy, I think the reason they're all here is to receive instructions—"

"—Shut up Granger, I was merely reminding them to be aware of their responsibilities"

Hermione glared at him and let him continue. There really wasn't much to be done about that anyway. When Malfoy had done giving out instructions, Hermione spoke, "Anyway, I suppose you'd like to go back to your friends' compartments now. But, please do check the other compartments from time to time during the rest of the trip"

Smiles spread across most of the prefects' faces as they stood up to leave. Hermione stood up to leave as well but Draco stopped her by saying, "Granger, as much as I would enjoy seeing you leave, we really couldn't afford to lose any more time as we still have more matters to discuss…"

"Such as what?" Hermione asked as she sat back down. Then she remembered that she wanted to ask Malfoy about the pranks that have been befalling her lately. "Well, actually I have something to ask you too, _Draco_"

"Granger, don't tell me we're on a first name basis now. Do you know how disgusting my name sounds when you say it?"

"Oh, your first name sounds revolting when _anybody_ says it"

"Just ask me what you wanted to so we could get it over with," Draco said, sounding mildly curious, although he knew what she was going to ask and what he was going to answer.

"Have you been playing pranks on me, Malfoy?"

"What kind of pranks?"

Hermione's eyes fixed themselves on Draco's again before she answered, "Oh I don't know, pranks involving honey, cold water and alarm clocks?"

"What are alarm clocks? Some kind of Muggle contraption, I expect?"

"A clock that beeps when you need to be awake at a certain time," Hermione explained quickly. She forgot that Draco was extremely close-minded about Muggles and he wouldn't know about those things, but she still suspected him.

"You did it, didn't you?" she said, raising her voice to try and get a confession out of him. On the contrary, he kept his cool and his expression didn't change at all. Then, his lips curved into a smile.

"What good would that give me, Granger?" Draco said coolly, "Honestly, the ideas your little head keeps on coming up with…I don't know where Dumbledore gets off at naming you Head Girl…"

"If I do find out that you've been doing this to me, I will get my revenge"

"You better work on giving threats, _Hermione_, but I guess even the best ones sound like jokes coming out of your filthy mouth"

"Don't you dare insult me like that, Malfoy, or else—"

"—or else what? You tell a teacher?"

"You know what? It's useless to be doing this when we have things to talk about…"

Draco smoothened his Muggle clothes and checked his watch. "Right. There's this business about the seventh year ball…decorations, theme…although it's usually just a formal one, I've heard, but we do have options…"

"Now that's more like it…" Hermione thought, "a decent conversation with the amazing bouncing ferret…although I doubt that it's going to last long"

"…as I was saying, I think that we should call in the prefects by pairs during this hour, because the food cart witch is going to pass by in approximately an hour, so we don't want to deprive the prefects of their right to eat, of course it would be interesting to observe their behavior when starved" he added in an amused undertone.

"Brief them? I don't remember last year's head boy and girl calling us separately…" Hermione said.

"That's because they were extremely incompetent…need I remind you that the student body is under new management now? Or have you completely missed the point of being Head Girl?"

Hermione felt rather stupid after hearing this but agreed to call in the prefects in by pairs (according to their house and year) for a quick briefing. Hermione was drawing out a table on some parchment to illustrate the corridors and label them with the names of each pair of prefects assigned to patrol them. She had nearly finished it when Draco came back in with a rather uninterested pair of fifth-year Hufflepuff prefects.

She gave him the table and left him to explain why they had been called in and she had contributed when it came to giving them their assigned corridors. As each pair came and went, she noticed that Draco was really determined in doing his job right. It reminded her that she needed to be doing her job well too, so when the fifth pair came in, she took over, replacing Draco's drawling voice with her own clear, serious one.

Draco glared at her from a far seat, but he was sort of thankful because he was afraid his voice might've cracked up if he went on any longer without taking any breaks, but being Draco, he wasn't about to admit that.

By the time the last pair was done, there was a blank silence between them. Hermione had brought out a book; not even thinking to go and see how her friends were doing and Draco had lain down on his back, not really caring about his friends, his eyes scanning the ceiling. He turned his head to the door as he heard someone knock.

Hermione went over to open it and he saw the food cart lady and her wide, dimpled smile. "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Hermione had taken out the maroon Madam Malkin signature 'witch' coin purse she had bought in Diagon Alley the year before only to discover that Draco had a green Madam Malkin signature 'wizard' money bag the in the exact same style (only a different color). She pretended not to notice it as she asked for Pumpkin juice, Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans and a few Pumpkin pasties. Draco purchased licorice, Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin juice and Drooble's Best Blowing Gum.

Hermione had opened a Pumpkin pasty and had started to chew on it while Draco took a sip of his ice-cold Pumpkin juice. Hermione tried her best not to stare at the leather watch on his left wrist. She felt weird about it because she had been admiring that watch behind a shop window just a few days before, when they had been in Diagon Alley.

She took her eyes away from his wrist just as she remembered that she was going to visit her friends at their compartment. Draco watched as she crammed the rest of the sweets into her pockets, and he continued to watch her as she exited the compartment.

He couldn't be happier to see her leave. He'd always been in a compartment with his so-called friends and he always wondered what it would be like being alone in one, especially in one as big as the prefects' compartment. He enjoyed it by sleeping. He laid down again on his back and rested his head on one of the seats.

An hour later, Hermione entered the prefects' compartment to see Draco dozing off. She went over to see how he looked like when he was sleeping. Surprisingly, he looked just a little less evil than he was when he was awake. Suddenly, he opened his eyes sleepily and Hermione moved backwards into a seat, grabbing the book to try to pretend to read. But, he caught her and smirked.

"Couldn't help yourself, Granger? Gazing upon my perfect face?" said Draco as he sat up.

"I was just thinking, Malfoy, that when you're sleeping, you have an uncanny resemblance to a pig's arse?"

"How perverted are you, Granger? You stare at pig's arses too?"

"I'm staring at one right now"

To Hermione's glee, a light pink now tinged Draco's pale face. "Sod off, Granger", said Draco and he pulled out his trunk from underneath the seat. His trunk was new, Hermione noticed, glancing from her book, and in a dark shade of red too; maybe he liked Gryffindor more than he let on. He removed his band t-shirt (that featured The Used) and put on a more sensible collared shirt, and over it, the Hogwarts robes.

Hermione was immersed in her book when all this happened, so she didn't really take notice. A few minutes later, she took out her own trunk and put her Hogwarts robes over her already sensible outfit.

Then, just as Hermione opened her book again, there was a knock on the door. It was Harry Potter with a stressed, confused look on his face.

"Hermione, we kind of need your help—"That's when he saw Malfoy, but he resisted the urge to take out his wand and hex the slimy git and instead continued, "—there's a sort of situation…"

Hermione set her book down and stood up. She and Harry made her way to the compartment where Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville sat, Neville covered in boils.

"What—happened?" Hermione asked, trying not to look at Neville. Then everyone spoke at once.

"Theodore Nott—"

"Honestly! Hexing Neville—"

"Slytherin scum—"

"—on his way to the driver's compartment—"

"Alright, alright," Hermione said, "Can anyone tell me where Theodore Nott is?"

"He's in the compartment near the front…" Ron said, "…I think. I'll go with you…"

**

* * *

**

When Hermione Granger returned to the prefects' compartment, Draco asked her, "What happened?"

"None of your business, Malfoy", she said. She was obviously in a sour mood.

"Being Head Boy, I think it's as much my business as it is yours"

"That Theodore Nott hexed Neville Longbottom, if you really want to know…that git thinks…"

"That git thinks what? I reckon it wouldn't be a good thing to be mouthing off like that, especially against a good friend of mine."

"And you don't think using the Fernunculus curse against Neville was wrong, just because he's a Slytherin like you?"

"Longbottom had it coming—"

"Oh he did, did he? Neville just passed by Nott's compartment to get to the driver's, then Nott decided Neville was invading space and then he cursed Neville…and you don't see anything wrong with that?"

"As a matter of fact—"

"You lousy, biased scumbag! Just because he's in Gryffindor doesn't mean—"

"—just come off it, Granger. It's already happened—no used crying over spilt potion…"

"But you're just going to let it happen again, won't you?" Hermione said, putting her book back into her trunk.

"Of course I won't. Let's just give Nott some consideration, shall we?"

"I am not about to do that, Malfoy. What if a Gryffindor did that to a Slytherin? I expect you'd be cursing his head off by now"

"That wouldn't be very professional of me, would it? Let's just let him be with a warning, then we could take off points if he does it again, shall we?"

"Eat dung, Malfoy" Hermione said through gritted teeth, and she turned her head to the ceiling and tilted it to the side, too fed up to argue.

Before Malfoy could open his mouth to say another smart remark, he train pulled over at the station and Hermione had stood up to leave. The next thing he knew, Hermione gone out of the compartment and had probably left the train.

**_

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A/N: Thanks for reading the fourth chapter of By Some Cruel Twist of Fate (It's the longest chapter ever. It took me about 5 days to complete)_**

**_Some notes: _**

_-Yes, this is a Head Boy/Girl fic BUT let me assure you that this is going to be different because it also works on the action aspect of the seventh year. I assure you that I am set on giving you one of the best DMHG fanfics ever written._

_-I don't want to ruin the story so I won't be revealing anything such as whether or not the romance will work out._

**I've researched, typed, and thought and thought. I've also read it through and edited it. Now, maybe, you'd like to take some time to REVIEW? Hit that button, you know you want to. PLEASE?**

_**Thanks to: **The-Princess-06, Lady Moofin, x aby x, Celi, gians, Steelo, Love That Elf, Gi Xian_

**Thank you all. KEEP ON REVIEWING. I get motivated by reviews so if you want the next chapter anytime soon, then maybe you should review. I'll give you virtual cookies if you want:hands out mind-control antennas--that will make readers review--disguised as Smelting poking sticks: ILU!

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	5. Fifth

**By Some Cruel Twist of Fate **

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**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter. :sniff:

**Summary**: Someone is reading Hermione's diary, and through that information, a series of practical jokes befall her…all from Draco Malfoy. However, something happens that Draco isn't counting on: LOVE.

**Pairing**: DMHG

**Setting**: Seventh Year

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_Chapter 5_

Hermione Granger was furious. She was stuck working with biased, Slytherin scum. She scowled as she joined the crowd filing out of the train, too irritated to yell out reminders to the younger students. She was glad to see Hagrid calling out to the first years. She gave a little wave and continued on to ride one of the seemingly horseless carriages beside one of the Ravenclaw prefects and her Hufflepuff friend.

On the way to the great castle, the carriage she was riding in was right beside the carriage where Harry, Ron and Ginny sat. She gave a small smile and they all waved to her. When they reached the castle, there was a light drizzle already, and the pair she was sitting with ran over to the castle with a small goodbye to her, afraid to get wet, in case the rain fell even heavier within the next few seconds.

Hermione didn't really care about the rain. In fact, she enjoyed the rain. It made her feel happy and refreshed. So she took her time walking the short distance from the carriage to the castle's oak front doors. She suddenly became aware that she was the Head Girl and nobody was going to do her job for her.

She started yelling instructions, keeping her polite manner, of course. "Please, keep as quiet as you can," she said to a group of second years, "…the sorting will begin soon"

Then, she noticed that she wasn't the only one giving out instructions. She noticed that every single prefect was giving out instructions to their respective houses. She beamed at no one in particular, but then she reminded herself that it was Draco Malfoy's idea to give individual instructions to the prefects. "Okay, so maybe Malfoy deserves just a little bit more credit than I'd like to give him…", she was thinking.

Draco Malfoy was keeping quiet, taking in the satisfaction of a job well done. But then he reminded himself that this was only the beginning of his job as Head Boy. He had been racking his brain ever since he found out that he was chosen for that position. He was determined to make this year a very memorable one.

But then, he was still thinking about the end-of-year ball, the one exclusively for seventh years, seven nights after the end-of-year feasts, according to tradition. He still couldn't think of a good theme, but then again it was more of a girl's job, which brought him to the thought of Hermione Granger. Although, he disliked the idea of going to a Mudblood for help, it wasn't technically help. It was also Granger's job to come up with ideas. To Draco, it wasn't asking for help, it was forcibly asking for contributions.

He looked up as he heard the doors into the Great Hall open. Standing there was the Deputy Headmistress, Professor Minerva McGonagall. She had on her usual stern expression and her hair couldn't be in a tighter bun. She gave everyone a strict look, tucked her wand in her robes, and moved to the side, letting them pass. He was one of the last to enter the Great Hall, along with a few other Slytherins from his year. He had on the look that told everyone, "Don't you dare try striking up a conversation with me", and everyone respected that, or maybe they were just afraid.

He sat down at the Slytherin table and gave a nod to Blaise Zabini, who sat across him. Blaise gave him a smirk, nodding towards the Gryffindor table. Draco cast a look at the Gryffindors, extremely cocky and confident, and he looked back at Blaise. Then he remembered the fight he and Granger had about Theodore Nott.

He caught Theodore Nott's eye and Nott gave him a questioning look, mixed with fright. Draco motioned for Nott to sit beside him, and the fifth year beside Draco moved to his side, making room for the stringy Slytherin.

"So, what is this I hear about you hexing Neville Longbottom?"

Before Theodore could retort, Draco continued, "You're forgetting what position I'm in now, Nott. I suggest you stay away from the Gryffindors…because if you haven't noticed, this year's Head Girl is one of them."

Theodore Nott was extremely upset after hearing this, but he was in no position to argue, not even close to being in a position to bargain. He nodded and then went back to where he was originally seated. Draco Malfoy had an even more satisfied look on his face. Things were going his way, and he was happy, or rather, proud.

Hermione was seated beside Harry, and beside him was Ron. On Hermione's other side was Dean Thomas.

"Look, that's probably our new Defense teacher…", Dean said, turning his head to the staff table. The only new face there was this old middle-sized man beside Professor Sinistra. He had rectangular brown eyeglasses on the bridge of his nose. His gray hair was parted neatly, and it went pretty well with his thin, gaunt, wrinkled face. Although, he was quite old, he wasn't nearly as old as Dumbledore, and he looked quite different from Dumbledore, mind you. However, both of them had very kind eyes and a soft, unintentional friendly smile on their faces. He had rich maroon robes with satin cuffs.

"Wonder who he is…", Parvati Patil said from beside Ron.

"I wonder where Dumbledore found him…", Lavender Brown said from across Parvati, "He doesn't look that bad…he _is_ old though…"

The talk about the new teacher went on for a few minutes then the students started talking to other members of Gryffindor, leaving the trio to talk to each other in a relatively private way:

"I have no idea how I'm going to survive a year with Malfoy, honestly, he's extremely one sided…"

"No surprises there", Harry said.

"Yeah, Hermione, that's really horrible to hear…you, stuck…with that git…I guess there are a few disadvantages to being the teachers' favorite" said Ron grinning.

"Ron!" Hermione said, "I'm being serious!"

"So am I. I'm quite hungry, actually", Ron said looking over at the empty plates in front of them.

Then, the doors of the Great Hall opened again. Rubeus Hagrid was rather wet, but not soaking, unlike a few years back when Dennis Creevey fell into the lake. The unsorted first years looked amazed and astonished, just like every student did so in his or her first years. Hermione looked over at a few of them, and secretly picked out the ones that looked like they'd be sorted into Gryffindor.

Draco looked over at the new first years, and saw a few ones that he would like to be sorted into his house. One of them was a spiky brown-haired kid who looked more threatening than Crabbe or Goyle, and he wasn't even that weighty, he was about Draco's build, and he had on a "Talk to me and prepare to suffer" look; he reminded Draco of himself.

The unsorted students quieted down as Professor McGonagall climbed up the stage and took a roll of parchment containing the list of new students. Then, she set down the sorting hat on the stool, and then it started to sing.

Draco shifted in his seat and pretended to listen. All he was hearing was, "blah, blah, blah…la da di da da, la di, la da…"

When the sorting hat's song was over, Hermione joined the rest of Hogwarts as they gave a nice, big applause. Then, McGonagall unrolled the parchment and started reading out names. The first Gryffindor was a tall girl named Alisa Aldridge. She had stunning red hair, and she sat down at the table with a confident, warm smile. Hermione and the rest of the older Gryffindors welcomed her and concentrated once again on the sorting.

Draco liked the sorting. Many of his friends thought it was boring, but he had this little game in his head. After a name was called, he would try to guess what house he or she would be sorted in. Usually, he got it correctly. He had very good instinct, actually. Now it was the spiky haired boy's turn, and Draco focused even harder. Of course, he assumed that the boy was going to be sorted into Slytherin.

The boy's name was Matthew Paisley, according to the list. He marched confidently to the stage and sat on the stool, placing the sorting hat on his head. Then, just about two seconds after it sat on his head, it roared, "SLYTHERIN!"

Draco, along with his fellow Slytherins stood up with deafening applause as Matthew strode over to the Slytherin table. Matthew took his place beside Blaise Zabini, indirectly across Draco. Draco nodded towards him and he nodded back.

Hermione applauded again after the sorting hat proclaimed "Venus, Romeo" a Gryffindor, making him the last new Gryffindor that year. The last one sorted, "Vine, Fiona", was sorted into Hufflepuff. Romeo sat down beside Dean Thomas and Hermione reached over to congratulate him and explained that if ever he needed anything, he should approach any of the prefects or Hermione herself, the Head Girl.

"Thanks, Hermione", Romeo said, and Hermione noticed he had extremely blue eyes. They stood out from his pale face. Hermione smiled back and looked towards the staff table, where Professor Dumbledore had stood up to give opening remarks.

Draco shifted in his seat to turn his attention to Dumbledore. Even though he had little respect for the old professor, he found it useful to listen to him in order to report to his father. He was more than happy to contribute to the activities of the Death Eaters and he smirked in pride just thinking about that.

Dumbledore adjusted his half-moon glasses on the bridge of his long crooked nose, and he gave a small, nearly unnoticeable cough before beginning his usually short speech. "I am pleased to introduce to you this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Newton Artemis Fido Scamander…or you may know him simply as Newt Scamander" As Newt Scamander stood up hesitantly from his seat to acknowledge the applause, several older students realized that he was the author of several books such as _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. _Hermione was one of those that clapped the loudest.

"He was the one who founded the _Office of House Elf Relocation, _you know?", she said to Harry, and as the applause died down a bit, he replied, "Must be pretty decent then, I think", with a bit of a sly grin.

Harry remembered their sixth year. Theirteacher was Nymphadora Tonks. She wasn't strict at all; she was possibly the most laid-back teacher, but that was mainly the problem. She gave them very easy homework. At the time, Harry and Ron didn't see what was wrong with that, but when their exams came, they didn't exactly have the easiest time as they lacked many notes. Another thing was, she was quite clumsy, and a lot of equipment had to be replaced. Dumbledore was very kind, and when the school year ended, he didn't even ask her to leave. She said that teaching was clearly not what was meant for her to do, and so she left, and now she's back to being a Ministry Auror.

Dumbledore continued, "Please let it be a reminder that the forest is forbidden to all students. Now, let us eat"

At that instant, the empty plates and platters were filled with delicious food and treats and the goblets were filled with cold pumpkin juice. There was Yorkshire pudding, roast beef and chicken, shepherd's pie, pork chops, steak and kidney pudding, several kinds of potatoes, chips, and a lot more.

Everyone ate heartily, not having much time to talk in the first few minutes. After their second helpings, they all engaged in conversation with one person or another, and they continued to eat happily.

"Hermione, don't the Heads get a separate dormitory?" Harry asked after taking a big gulp of his pumpkin juice.

Hermione looked at Harry in tremendous fear. "A whole year within close proximity of…of…that?" she looked over at the Slytherin table, where all students had either smirks or smug looks on their faces. She looked at Harry again, taking a deep breath… "I honestly forgot about that…"

"Well, Hermione, good luck with that prat", Ron said. He had bits of Yorkshire pudding on his lips, and Hermione was glad to point them out, but then she focused at the situation at hand.

"It shouldn't be that bad…I mean, you could just come and stay with us at the common room most of the time…but we can't really do anything about it at night or in the morning before class…", Harry said, grimacing.

Hermione put on a brave face, which was exactly the opposite of what she was really feeling, as she set her spoon and fork down and sipped the pumpkin juice. A few minutes later, the main course disappeared and was replaced by several varieties of dessert. This included chocolate gateau, éclairs, jam doughnuts, trifle and a nice kind of rice pudding. Hermione filled her plate with a few helpings of rice puddings and slowly tried not to worry about what was going to happen tonight.

Later, after the meal, Dumbledore stood up again with a smile. "Now that we are done feasting, may prefects please lead the first years to their respective dormitory. Head Boy and Girl should overlook this operation, keeping a watchful eye on how things are done, and once the corridors and stairways are cleared, will the two of them please report to Professor McGonagall."

The corridors took a long time to clear, as there were so many students going in several directions. Some of them opted to take the easy way and follow the prefects and some of them opted to take the longer way so that they could linger for a while. Hermione and Draco didn't actually see each other while checking on how things were going, and they only met again in Professor McGonagall's office in the first floor.

Hermione was already seated when Draco Malfoy arrived, he had on a scowl and he forced his face to rest as he took his seat beside Hermione. Professor McGonagall did not appreciate his being late, "Miss Granger arrived five minutes ago, Mr. Malfoy, would you like to tell us what took you so long?"

"I was on the sixth floor, professor…some second years got a bit lost…" Draco said, and it was the truth. He didn't want to be held responsible for anything happening to the little scumbags. Just think of what that would do to his records.

"Very well," McGonagall summoned a thick envelope and she gave it to Hermione who looked at it with curiosity. "Those are several lists and records, requirements and other important documents you might need…now, please follow me to your dormitories…"

They followed her through several steps and stairways and finally, to the winding staircase of the West Tower, where the Owlery was. Almost halfway to the owlery, Professor McGonagall halted and then turned to the stone wall on her left. Draco and Hermione turned to look at it too. McGonagall tapped one of the bricks, and it turned out, the brick was half hollow, revealing a small row of precious stones imbedded in it. The professor placed her fingers on the first, third and fifth rock gently, and part of the wall disappeared. They entered, and behind them, the wall materialized once again.

They were standing in a hall. There were five doors. The first two doors were a bit farther apart than the last two, with one door in between. Professor McGonagall quickly explained that the first two doors on the left were the bathroom and bedroom for Hermione and the last two were the bathroom and bedroom for Draco.

They then entered the door in the middle. In it were a fireplace, a huge wooden table and two huge comfortable armchairs on the side, plus an empty bookshelf. Surrounding the wooden table were several seats and there under the wooden tables were small drawers, all open, showcasing several basic quills and bottles of ink and parchment. There were also some letter-writing materials with some sealing wax. On either side of the room, there were doors leading to the bedrooms. There was only one window, and it was made of lightly stained glass. It was circular in shape. Hermione noticed that the wall nearest to it had a piece of wood on it. It probably acted as a perch for any owl that came to deliver letters.

"Now, if you need anything, don't hesitate to visit my office, or Professor Dumbledore's. I trust you know the rules regarding the bedrooms…yours is off limits to hers and _yours_ is off limits to his…we have put spells on the rooms just in case, but I trust there will be no need for these…"

Then, she left the sort-of common room, leaving Hermione and Draco standing there. Hermione glared at a smirking Draco and entered her bedroom.

Hermione's bedroom was very much unlike the dormitories in the Gryffindor tower. Her bed was much bigger and it wasn't a four-poster, but instead a comfortable queen sized mattress on a dark wooden bed frame in the middle of the room. The sheets were a nice golden yellow color, the bedspread was a deep red and there were two pillows. The first one was a silky gold and the second one was a satin red.

If she faced the bed, on her right was a wide window with a small fluffy seat underneath. On her left and behind her were the two doors leading into the hall and the sort-of common room. Beside the door on her left was a huge wardrobe, and beside the door behind her was a small, cozy looking armchair. Over the chair was a hanging lamp with a beautiful embroidered lampshade. The window had deep red curtains pulled to either side. On either side on the huge bed were bedside tables the same color of the bed frame. Then, the exhausted Hermione plopped down on the bed and stared at the crème ceiling.

Draco didn't enter his room right away; he sat by the fireplace instead. He stayed there for a while, but then he finally entered his room to see what it was like. There was a huge queen-sized bed with a bright grayish bed sheet that looked almost silver and the covers were a forest-like green and the two pillows were a shiny silver and green. There was also a comfortable looking armchair under a hanging lamp. The lampshade had intricate designs embroidered on them. There was a fluffy seat similar to a sofa without a backrest under a wide window. The curtains half covered the window and they were a dark green.

Draco, who still felt a bit energized, took out some of his books and brought them to the mini- common room and started studying. He studied quite a few subjects as he was set on training to be an Auror, although he wasn't even close to wanting to be one. It was so that he could be a spy for the Death Eaters and relay to them several techniques and strategies that are used by Aurors. He studied Potions, Transfiguration and Charms. After the two hours of quick studying, he turned his attention to his next prank.

**

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**

The next morning, Hermione woke up bright and early as usual, possibly even earlier as she slept earlier than usual last night. She took her towel and Hogwarts' robes and started for the bathroom. Once she opened the bathroom door she was overcome with shock and disgust. It was filled with a huge assortment of frogs and toads and worms. It was the grossest things. Normally, she wouldn't have minded if they were in a cage or behind glass. Or maybe, if there were only one frog, she could've gotten over the surprise quickly and transfigured it into a purse or something. Following basic instinct, she closed the door behind her, breathing heavily and trying to figure out how to handle the situation.

**

* * *

**

Draco didn't dislike waking up early; he _hated_ it. He hardly ever woke up early, except if he really had somewhere to go. He was cranky and snobby and irritable, not that he wasn't already…but he worse in the mornings. Another thing that made him constantly late was that he _had _to take showers every single morning. It was one of his idiosyncrasies. If he didn't shower, he'd feel uncomfortable and therefore wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything he did at all.

"DRACO MALFOY! WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN DID YOU DO TO MY BATHROOM?", Hermione screamed from the other side of his open door. She wasn't allowed to step inside his room, neither was he allowed to step inside hers, but that didn't mean she couldn't yell at him.

Malfoy gritted his teeth as he stood up to face Granger. He did deserve this, after all, having filled her bathroom with frogs. Mind you, it wasn't easy to do, but he did it in less than thirty minutes. But he wasn't about to tell that to Granger.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, GRANGER?" he yelled back, hoping she'd just leave him alone. But he was so wrong.

"You filled my bathroom with amphibians! And I would bet anything in the world that you pulled all of those other pranks too!"

"Are you sure you would make this bet, Granger? That's not a very good idea; let me say, because I didn't do any of that stuff. Has anybody ever told you you're paranoid?" Draco said, raising his chin.

"No, Malfoy, nobody had ever told me I'm paranoid, BECAUSE I'M NOT!"

"First of all, I wasn't even awake when you went inside your loo! You woke me up, from a very pleasant dream, I must add"

"Oh please! Don't expect me to buy that, Malfoy, because you very well had the opportunity to do it last night while I was asleep. I'm not that stupid, you know", Hermione said angrily.

"You sure are doing a very good job of _acting_ stupid"

"Get rid of them—NOW!"

"Why should I? I'm not responsible for them"

"I'm telling McGonagall, then"

"And what proof do you have to back up your story, exactly", said Draco, raising his eyebrows.

Then she fell silent.

"If I ever get a shred of evidence against you—even the tiniest one—I will take full advantage of it"

"Good for you," Draco said with sarcasm, "Now run along and let me sleep"

"You do realize we have twenty minutes before class begins, right?"

Inside, Draco was startled. He didn't even know what time it was. But on the outside, he played it calm. "Of course I do, Granger, now let me get some rest…it's bad enough that we share a common room—"

Hermione stormed off into her bathroom. She had already made the frogs disappear; well actually, she transfigured them into rocks, using a handy little spell from her sixth year Transfiguration book. Then, she took the rocks, with a slight expression of disgust, and piled them in her room. She was going to have to dispose of them later.

She was very sure that Draco was the one who was doing all this to her, but really, he was innocent until proven guilty. Besides, if she turned out to be wrong, it would be extremely embarrassing if she dragged McGonagall into the situation, or even Dumbledore.

**

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**

Right after he heard Hermione slam the bathroom door behind her, he quickly got up from his bed and entered his bathroom. He quickly started the shower. As he was brushing his teeth three minutes later, he was getting a little bit worried. After all, if Hermione found out who was playing all these pranks on her, then he wouldn't be able to finish the dare he pulled out of the hat. Blaise would never let him forget that, for sure.

After he brushed his teeth, he quickly entered his bedroom again and changed into his Hogwarts robes. If he weren't running late, he would've checked himself out in the mirror. He was really conceited; therefore confirming that most of what everyone thought of him was very much correct.

**

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**

Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley entered the Transfiguration classroom a bit later than Professor McGonagall would have liked, but they were surprised to see that Hermione Granger wasn't there yet. There were fewer students in their class that year, because everyone took classes according to their O.W.Ls and their chosen career. Needless to say, the class was made out of students from different houses. They took their seats in the last row, as most of the classroom was already filled up.

Ron scanned the classroom for Hermione. She wasn't there and he was starting to worry because she was usually early. She wasn't even at breakfast that morning.

"What do you reckon happened to Hermione?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Does she know that her first class is Transfiguration?" Ron asked. There was also a possibility that she didn't get her schedule.

"Maybe she—"

Harry wasn't able to finish his sentence as the classroom door opened again and a very messy Hermione came in. Her hair was bushier than ever and her robes weren't closed so it revealed her white t-shirt and old, frayed jeans. She had her black book bag over her shoulder and she was trying to tie up her robes. She sat down beside Harry, who moved over to give her space. She gave a little apologetic look at Professor McGonagall, who merely nodded and carried on her lecture.

"Where were you?" Harry asked.

"I'll tell you later," Hermione said hurriedly, taking out her quill, parchment and ink, hoping that her little interruption would be forgotten by the time their marks were processed.

But that was definitely not the first interruption. The second one was Draco Malfoy; hair barely combed and with a sour, irritated expression. He didn't look at anyone as he took a seat at the front row.

"Rough night, Mister Malfoy?" Professor McGonagall asked.

Some of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs sniggered. The Gryffindors were chuckling, too, but Draco didn't care. He hated having to share his dormitory with Hermione Granger. He rolled his eyes and took out his parchment, ink and quill out from his grey messenger bag.

**

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**

By lunchtime, the entire seventh year was already exhausted. Each teacher they encountered that day gave them heaps of homework and told several lectures. Ron and Harry had forgotten all about asking Hermione why she was late for their first class, but she explained it to them anyway.

"That rotten Draco Malfoy…frogs in my bathroom, _honestly!_"

"That scumbag!" Ron was outraged. He was about to stand up and go to the Slytherin table, but Harry stopped him. "Are you mad? Not with the whole Slytherin house watching…"

Ron sat down as quickly as he stood up and Hermione said, "Well, what if we're wrong…what if he didn't do it?"

"I doubt that, Hermione. I mean, who else in the entire student body has something against you?" Harry explained.

"There's the Slytherins…", Hermione reasoned.

"Oh yeah…but don't you think they'd do something more direct? Malfoy's the type of person who'd do things behind your back…?"

"Well, he does have a sort of sly and cunning thing about him…I hate to admit it, but he is quite clever…even though every fiber in him is evil…sometimes I feel like his abilities are wasted…"

Ron gaped at her.

"I was _kidding_" Hermione said, although she did agree with her statement, sort of.

"Well, I have to go…I've got Potions next…", Hermione said, grabbing her bag. Harry and Ron didn't have Potions this year as they didn't qualify. This was a big disappointment for Harry as he wanted to be an auror, but Potions wasn't his best subject anyway and he wasn't really expecting to get into the N.E.W.T. level class.

Hermione was bitter. She didn't like Potions at all, but she had to take it in order for her to become a certified Healer. It was going to be a rough year, she was sure, but she was prepared to do her best in every task given to her; until yesterday, that is. With Draco Malfoy hanging around her, giving her a horrible time, she wasn't that sure about that now. But she was going to have to keep her chin up and stay positive.

**

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**

Draco hated Potions. Yes, it was his best class, but it was also the most boring next to History of Magic. He hated all that measuring and he was quite grossed out by some of the ingredients. Wizard's used the most unusual things in their potions. The weirdest ones were in the simplest potions, so since their first year, they've encountered snouts, horns, hooves, mucus and innards of every kind.

He made his way quickly to the dungeon. He had on his usual smirk, his robe was opened, revealing a black t-shirt over frayed jeans and he had his grey backpack slung over one shoulder, giving him an angry, 'don't even try it' look. When he entered, a few seats were still vacant. He took the one farthest from Hermione, who rolled her eyes and went back to her piece of parchment.

Professor Snape entered the dungeon carrying several vials of different ingredients. More vials and small glass cases were floating behind him. When each of those were settled down on the teacher's table, he spoke, the class silently watching his each and every move.

"This is the N.E.W.T. level Potions class, I expect no foolish behavior from any of you, I expect above average marks by the end of this year. I expect everyone to comply with each requirement and make satisfactory potions and serums. You made it into this class because you have shown satisfactory work in the past six years, and not by sheer luck alone. I assure you that you all deserve to be here, but _do you deserve to stay?_"

The class remained silent and it continued quietly for the next fifty-six minutes. When they exited, they all went different ways. Hermione and Draco were the only ones walking toward the third floor staircase, where the Charms classroom was.

"On to Flitwick's class, are you?" Draco asked her lightly, with an expression that showed he didn't really care at all about what Hermione had to say.

"What's it to you, Malfoy?"

"Geez, Granger, haven't you ever heard of making conversation?"

"I guess the question is, Malfoy, why are you making conversation with _me_?"

"Is there anyone on this corridor Granger, because if there is, I'd like to know"

"Like you'd really talk to a Gryffindor without a good reason"

"You really have it all figured out, haven't you, Granger?" Malfoy said as they rounded to the next corridor.

Hermione didn't answer. She quickened her pace, adjusting her book back on her shoulder and entering the classroom a good forty seconds before Malfoy did. Still in the corridor, Malfoy snorted. "Insecure, is she?" he thought, amused. Then, he entered the Charms classroom.

**

* * *

**

Hermione threw her book bag onto her bed, taking off her shoes to put on more comfortable flip-flops. She took off her Hogwarts robes, leaving her Muggle clothes to be seen. She tied her messy hair into a tight, high ponytail and took out her textbooks, planning on studying for tomorrow's classes.

When she entered the common room, her face twisted into a look of exhaustion. Draco Malfoy was there, and Hermione didn't think that she could handle whatever insult he'd throw at her.

"Trying to learn how to transfigure a frog into a purse?" she asked through gritted teeth. Ironic as it was, they were given a frog to transfigure into a purse as an closing exercise during McGonagall's class. Amusingly, Draco was one of those whose purse still croaked when opened.

A light pink tinged Draco's pale face, but he kept his head down, and Hermione snorted, opening her book as she sat down across him. Draco glanced up at Hermione, and glared at her, although she didn't see it, immersed in a Defense Against the Dark Arts book.

"You think you're so clever, don't you, Granger?" he asked her. Hermione looked up to face him, her eyes locked on angrily to his.

"Do I really have to answer that, Malfoy?"

Draco looked at her tiredly and said, "Well, no matter how intelligent you are, Granger, you'll still always be a Mudblood"

"You'll still always be a disgusting git"

"I beg to differ—"

"Sod off!"

Hermione took her book and moved in front of the blazing fire, wishing this was all a sad dream, wishing Draco wasn't really there.

By the table, Draco Malfoy was wishing the same thing.

* * *

**_A/N: Thanks for reading the fifth chapter of By Some Cruel Twist of Fate (It's the longest chapter ever. It took me about 7 days to complete! Yes, I really do think a lot about what to put into my fics.)_**

**_Some notes: _**

_-I've pretty much got the whole story planned out now so this fic will more or less contain 20 chapters._

**I've researched, typed, and thought and thought. I've also read it through and edited it. Now, maybe, you'd like to take some time to REVIEW? Hit that button, you know you want to. PLEASE?**

_**Thanks to: **Stephanie-Felton, dark-demon2156, Love That Elf, the chickens egg, Lady Moofin, MrsPadfootVerona, Steelo, The-Princess-06, Sammeh, Celi, hiya!_

**Thank you all. KEEP ON REVIEWING. If you want to find out what happens next, you'll have to review. Go on and click that button.**

* * *


	6. Sixth

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter. :sniff:

**Summary**: Someone is reading Hermione's diary, and through that information, a series of practical jokes befall her…all from Draco Malfoy. However, something happens that Draco isn't counting on: LOVE.

**Pairing**: DMHG

**Setting**: Seventh Year

**

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Chapter 6

The moon was up, gleaming in the dark sky, clouds swirling around it. Draco Malfoy was in luck. Hermione had left her schoolbag in the common room. She was probably too sleepy to bring it in. He waited for her to finish studying three whole lessons. He sat by the fire planning his next move, as rain started to hit the window panes.

He pulled the schoolbag beside him, which was a beautiful maroon body bag. As he'd already seen the witch's coin purse, he realized how common their tastes were. What a disturbing thought, honestly. Draco rolled his eyes. He and Granger will never have anything in common, ever. He resolved to replace his money bag the first chance he got. He kept on rummaging, and he finally found it on the very bottom.

It was a fine leather-bound almost-blank book. Hermione had written in it twice. The _duplicem libris_ spell duplicated everything written on it, meaning that every time it's written in after it's duplicated, the entry would appear in Draco's copy.

Perhaps Draco would have the pleasure of reading several entries consisting of Hermione's complaints about him. It was the same feeling he got out of being placed. And as far as he figured, being loathed was the same as being liked. It took the same amount of attention and the same about of effort. So why turn that into something negative?

He took out his wand slowly and muttered, "Duplicem libris…" and pointed it at the book. "Brilliant," he whispered into the silence, as an exact copy of that book materialized beside the real one.

Needless to say, he had a lot of trouble sleeping just thinking about tomorrow's havoc.

**

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**

Hermione woke up the next morning, guarded as ever, anticipating another joke in the bathroom. But there was nothing there. When she turned on the shower, nothing but cool, refreshing water greeted her. She was perplexed as to who played these jokes, and she was determined to find out who it was. She knew that Draco had some hand in these jokes. Who else had access to their room?

She walked out of their dormitory and through the corridors and shouted at a few running third years.

"We're late for our class!" they shouted.

"Don't let me catch you at it again"

One of them rolled their eyes and nodded and they turned to walk briskly towards their class. Then she realized that classes didn't start for another thirty minutes. She considered going after them, but she was hungry and she just let her stomach lead the way.

She sat with her back to the Slytherin table, surprised to see that Malfoy was already there, jeering with his stupid friends. She was pretty sure she left before he did. But she just let that go and went back to eating her porridge.

"No tricks today, Hermione?" Ron asked, taking a sip of his juice.

"None…yet" She looked uneasy as she took another spoonful.

"Don't worry about it. He probably got bored and gave up," Harry said, shrugging. Why would anyone want to play that many tricks on just a single person? Surely that must be so monotonous.

Hermione suddenly stood up to leave. "I better go to class. I want to do some revision on a proper chair and table…I'll see you two there—bye, Ginny"

She walked off towards the Charms corridor. And when she entered the empty classroom—not even Professor Flitwick was there yet—she realized that it was not empty at all. Draco Malfoy was already sitting there, flipping through his textbook.

He didn't seem to notice he was there until a minute later.

"Why, hello, Granger…what are you doing here so early?"

"Just about to ask you the same question"

"I guess we're more alike than we think we are," Draco mused.

"Please. As if I want to be associated with you…" she turned back to the textbook.

"…oh but you _are_ associated with me, Granger…you're known as the less attractive Head"

"…you are just so full of yourself aren't you?" Hermione said, feeling fed up.

"Well what about you…? You think that somebody's out to get you…a stalker, I daresay. How much more full of yourself can you be?" He said this all very coolly. Everything was going according to plan. He was having a nice casual exchange of insults with Granger. At least she hasn't drawn her wand yet. He turned back to his textbook, or rather, Hermione's diary.

_August 29th_

_So, this is my first entry. I suppose that it should be memorable, but I can't really think of any way to make it so that it would be the most special page of this diary. Jake has given me this beautiful maroon bag for school and I'm looking forward to seeing him at the end of the school year. And I'm at the Weasleys at the moment, so needless to say, the summer has been great and I can't wait to go back to school. However, something happened today that has left me confused. Today, I woke up and had water spilled on me. It was freezing. Bill, Charlie and the twins are coming soon and I'm excited to be seeing them and for the big supper we'll be having tonight. I think Fred and George are bringing fireworks. Well, as you can see, I'm not much of a writer…or at least not on matters involving myself. I'll just leave this entry as this, and I'll write again soon. _

_Hermioneeeeee _

Annoyed at the fact that Hermione added several e's at the end of her name, Draco closed the diary. As people filed in for class, he began to wonder who Jake was. Was it her boyfriend? Psh. As if Hermione Granger was the type to even _think_ about romance. Draco, on the other hand, didn't think about romance. He knew about it. A lot.

* * *

Draco began to think harder of whom Jake was into the next few periods and he imagined that it must just be because it was so difficult to think of Granger cuddling with a member of the opposite sex…he even imagined Granger to be appalled at the idea. He sniggered, and then remembered that it was his free period.

He lurked into the library, finding the farthest table from the entrance…when he discovered that someone was already there.

"Granger," he gave her a bored greeting.

Granger rolled her eyes before looking up.

"You again, Malfoy? Stalking me, are you?"

Draco changed the subject. He was getting bored of this stalking talk.

"So, we have SO much to discuss," he said brightly.

Hermione looked at him blankly.

"Like what?"

"Like the theme for the end-of-year ball…and the Halloween feast…and your horrible taste in clothing", he said, peering at her open robe that revealed a pink shirt over white capris.

She quickly closed her robe and adjusted her seating position. Draco sneered, although he kind of liked the pink shirt. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, which he managed to pass off as being bored.

"Well, first of all," began Hermione, "I want a masquerade theme for the 7th year ball, to be honest…and the Halloween feast, Malfoy? What's wrong with the traditional Halloween feast? And what are _you_ wearing? Isn't that the same thing you were wearing yesterday?"

She raised her eyebrows and Draco suddenly got an idea.

"What _is_ that on your robes?" he looked at the side of her robes, disgusted.

"What?"

"On your robes, Granger. Oh, are you hard of hearing, too?"

Hermione took off her robes awkwardly and Draco raised his wand. She examined her robes and there wasn't anything wrong with them.

"You immature git," she said coldly and picked up her books from the table, leaving Draco smiling with satisfaction.

"I'll see you later, m'dear Granger," he called after her, amused.

He opened her diary again, leaning against his chair and reading the 2nd entry.

_August 31st _

_Tomorrow is the start of term. Needless to say, tomorrow morning will probably turn out to be hectic, especially for Mrs. Weasley. I'm just looking forward to going back to lessons. I have no idea who's playing these jokes on me. Harry and Ron think that it might be Draco behind it, but I don't think he'd be stupid (or bored enough) enough to be playing these Muggle pranks on me. I also wonder who's going to be head boy. I hope it's Ernie Macmillan. I just hope that it's not some Slytherin prat. _

Hermione was right, really. Draco had no reason to keep doing this. But he didn't need a reason. He was a Malfoy, after all.

**

* * *

**

Hermione sat down between Ron and Harry and she bent down to tie her shoes just as Professor Scamander entered the room. Harry looked down at her, his eyes widening.

"Hermione…" he said slowly, "…what's this on your back?"

She hadn't placed on her robes yet, and she supposed that was what was causing people to look at her in amusement and sometimes whisper and snigger. Was her fashion sense as bad as Malfoy said it was? But then she heard was Harry said to her and reached for her back. There was a piece of parchment stuck on it and it didn't seem to be getting off. She looked at Harry, alarmed.

"What does it say?" she asked him, putting on her robes and embarrassed as hell.

Harry opened his mouth to speak and glanced around. "Erm, well…"

"It says, 'I'm a self-righteous bitch'" Ron answered for him.

"…it was Malfoy" she said slowly, knocking on the wooden table repetitively…a nervous habit

"Now class," Professor Scamander squeaked, "…please take out your textbooks and take down as many clear notes as you can on wandless defense…then after fifteen minutes, we'll have a more in-depth discussion"

Hermione couldn't concentrate well on what she was doing but she managed to take good notes anyway and answered a good majority of the questions the professor threw at them.

"Fifty points for Gryffindor…great haul, Hermione" Ron said, trying to get her mind off the piece of parchment stuck on her back.

"Erm, what?...oh, thanks, Ron"

"Look, Hermione…don't worry about it. We'll report Malfoy…and the charm's probably temporary, anyway"

"…Ron…we can't report him…we have no proof. He'll laugh at any attempt I make to turn him in"

"We could beat him at his own game, play pranks on him too..?" Harry suggested.

"Pointless" Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to leave for her dormitory.

"Hey, Hermione! Come visit us sometime, yeah?"

"Sure, Harry, I'll see you later"

She couldn't stop thinking about how to stop Draco but she was just so frustrated that she went in her room to change her shirt, bringing the damaged one out to the common room with her. She scanned her eyes on what the parchment said.

She tried to pry it off with her fingers and of course that didn't work. Then she tried several spells but most of them we're weak against what Malfoy used. Then finally she said a spell that worked. The parchment burned off, leaving a huge stain of magical residue. It wasn't the right counter spell, Hermione concluded. And now she'll never be able to wear that shirt again. It was a gift from her older brother. It came with the bag.

Hermione sat against the wall nearest to the fireplace and started crying.

**

* * *

**

Draco had just entered their common room as she stormed out. She must've heard him turn the knob. He snorted. What a loser. It was funny how much satisfaction he had out of making Hermione feel miserable.

"_Creo foraminis"_ he muttered onto the wall dividing the common room from Hermione's room. It created a small hole on the wall that allowed him to see Hermione…but Hermione wouldn't be able to see him. Nice to see his little research trips to his father's library proved useful.

…what was this? Hermione was crying over a stupid pink shirt? He hadn't expected that. He felt uneasy. He watched her take out her diary and hurried to take out his own copy. It was like having a subscription to one of those juicy gossip magazines.

_September 3rd _

_I don't feel so well, to be honest. Someone just played a really bad joke on me. Whoever this someone is—and I'm guessing it's Draco sodding Malfoy—I feel really bad for whatever karma's going to hit him. My pink shirt was ruined today…the one Jake gave me. I haven't heard from Jake in a long time. _

Hermione paused to wipe her tears with her palm.

_Just a year of training… _

She stopped and placed the book back down, crawling under the covers, tears streaming down from her brown eyes.

"_Occludo foraminis"_ Draco muttered and the hole closed off. He felt strangely angry at himself. He could've picked another shirt. Oh wait. Him? Sympathizing with mudbloods. He then continued to convince himself that what he did was worth it. He still had a dare to carry out, after all.

**

* * *

**

Draco was up early the next day but found that Hermione had beaten him to the early-morning studying he rarely did. She was awfully quiet and placid, as if nothing had happened yesterday and she has successfully managed to ignore him and make him feel like a huge asshole for ruining a shirt with…erm, sentimental value.

Did it make sense that he felt sorry for that shirt?

He sat across her and he opened his textbooks in front of him. He glanced at him and she opened her mouth to speak, then she shook her head.

"Just…just tell me it was you," she said in a whisper.

"What are you talking about, Granger?" He tilted his head to the other side.

"My shirt, Draco. Just tell me you did it"

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"My fucking shirt, Draco. Tell me you were the one who stuck that parchment on it"

She bent down and took out her shirt from the bag. She was going to try and ask the house elves if it could be fixed.

She held the stain in front of him.

"…what are you talking about, Granger?" Draco insisted, "There's nothing wrong with the shirt"

She turned it towards her to point out the huge stain—but it wasn't there anymore. She looked at it and withdrew, pushing the shirt bag into her bag.

Draco licked his lips. "Are you delusional now, as well?"

Hermione said, "Shut up, Draco" although she was smiling inside. She was not about to be grateful. Besides, she wasn't so sure it was him who did it. It could've faded overnight. But she knew that wasn't possible.

**

* * *

**

Today Draco decided to take a break from the pranks. He breezed through his lessons until the ones after lunch, where random people decided to stare at him. This was not the kind of negative attention he wanted. It made him feel as if there was something wrong with him. On the way to Potions, Blaise caught up with him.

"Draco, your hair _was_ blond yesterday, wasn't it?"

"Was? It still is, Zabini" he said impatiently.

"No it isn't, mate," Zabini said snickering, "its…bright pink"

Draco rushed into the nearest bathroom.

"What…the hell," he said, running his hand through his hair. Then his eyes narrowed.

"…Granger"

He muttered the spell to turn it back to normal but then it turned green instead. He checked outside to make sure the corridors were cleared and when he was sure there was nobody there, he sneaked into the library and looked at a few potions books.

He took down the ingredients and procedures and went into his dormitory to fix his hair. When it returned to its normal platinum blond colour, he realized that he had missed the last two periods of the day. So this is what he gets for the repair he did to Hermione's shirt?

He lied on his bed until he heard the common room door opening.

"Mudblood," he yelled at her, "what the hell did you do to my hair?"

Hermione ignored him and opened her book in front of her. Draco pushed it away.

"I don't see what your problem is, Malfoy"

"You turned my hair pink. You still missing the point?"

"…can you prove it?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

Draco opened his mouth to speak.

"…besides," she said slyly, "…pink is a nice colour for you"

That's when they heard a faint tapping on the window. Hermione opened it to let the owl in. It rested on the piece of wood as Hermione opened the letter slowly and read out loud, "All seventh year students are required to take the Oath of Responsibility tomorrow at 9am. There will be no classes for the seventh years for the remainder of the day but instead a trip to Hogsmeade will be given as a treat"

Hermione placed the parchment on the table leaving it for Draco to read again. She entered her room and took out everything needed for a nice hot shower. Draco heard her open the bathroom door and took out his wand, smirking.

**

* * *

**

She felt the water hit her body and then slide off, cooling her off and taking her mind off the things that bothered her. No Draco, no pranks…just the essay she had to do on poisons and the one she had to do on the importance of mallowsweet for centaurs…and the long-term effects of dragon pox.

After a few minutes in the shower, she opened the shower curtain to reveal that her towel was nowhere to be seen. "Argh!" she cried. At least her wand was resting on the sink. She took it and muttered a hot air charm and changed into her clothes as if nothing happened.

She went out into the common room and started on her mallowsweet essay. She found the introduction satisfactory, so she left it at that. She didn't like working on one subject for too long. Now, _that_ bored her. She moved on to the dragon pox essay and then answered the worksheets given for transfiguration, nearly mastering a few advanced charms.

Then she was off to bed.

Draco on the other hand, was still furious about the prank Hermione pulled on him. And he started to think of ways to make it even more even, chucking her towel to the far side of the room.

**

* * *

**

Hermione awoke the next morning from a very pleasant dream involving the success of her essays and the knight bus. She turned over on her side and felt something touching her toe. She pulled her knees closer to her chest and tried to sleep again. But the sunlight was blinding her…as if it were directly shining on her.

She turned over on her back and opened her eyes. She was trying to make sure she wasn't dreaming anymore.

Where was the ceiling?

Nervous and agitated, she sat up and screamed.

"MALFOY!"

Her mattress was now floating on the lake.

**

* * *

**

**_A/N: Thanks for reading the fifth chapter of By Some Cruel Twist of Fate. I decided to continue this after all. _****_J_****_ I'm sorry to anyone who was frustrated with my previous decision and I hope you're still interested in reading this fanfiction._**

**_Some notes_******

_-Most of the spells I made up are in latin._

**I've researched, typed, and thought and thought. I've also read it through and edited it. Now, maybe, you'd like to take some time to REVIEW? Hit that button, you know you want to. PLEASE?**

**_Thanks to: _**_everyone who reviewed chapter 5 and trying to convince me to continue this fic_

**ANOTHER REMINDER: Keep reviewing, everyone! Please. It took me 2 hours to finish this chapter and it will only take you a minute to let me know about your opinions. I won't continue til I get a decent amount of reviews!**


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